Gov. Joe Lombardo recently wrote a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to cease tariffs on lithium to protect the industry.
While Lombardo has frequently said he supports tariffs to bring more manufacturing jobs to the United States, he has concerns surrounding lithium refinement.
Nevada is rich in lithium content but has yet to establish domestic infrastructure and equipment capable of refining lithium to useful standards while maintaining proper environmental regulations.
Many have been focusing on creating a lithium loop in the Silver State, which would involve sourcing, manufacturing and recycling lithium all in state boundaries. Lithium is commonly used in renewable energy products.
The Biden administration previously classified the northern Nevada lithium loop as one of the 31 designated regional tech hubs in the country.
The existing lithium supply chain is dominated by sourcing manufacturing grade lithium from China, and then exporting lithium to places like Canada and Mexico to process before the lithium returns to the United States.
Lombardo fears the current tariffs on China, as well as the across the board 10% tariffs, will not allow the developing industry to flourish. Dragonfly Energy, a supporter of reducing tariffs targeted toward the industry, claimed the industry is far from self-sustainable in the United States. The company also stated it has been working on establishing a domestic supply chain and returning manufacturing jobs to the U.S. prior to Trump’s tariff plan. (Source)