Silverado Policy Accelerator

Co-Founder and Executive Chair of Silverado Policy Accelerator, and recent recipient of an Honorary Doctorate of Public Service, Maureen H. delivered an inspiring commencement speech at her alma mater, University of Denver 🎓. With humor, personal stories, and practical advice, Hinman acknowledged today's challenges and empowered graduates by reminding them that they are exactly where they need to be, having "self-selected to be the right people at the right time" to generate solutions for a more secure and prosperous future 🌎. https://lnkd.in/g5iwNa3F

Why are AGOA countries vital for strategic defense critical minerals like niobium, tantalum, and vanadium? 💣 Explore our second AGOA critical minerals data series for the answer: https://lnkd.in/eRE3C6xQ Key highlights: 🌍 Exports of niobium, tantalum, and vanadium totaled $629 million in 2023 from AGOA countries. These critical minerals are used in defense applications such as military aircraft, submarines, missiles, and tanks. 🇺🇸 The U.S. is 100% net import reliant on imports for niobium and tantalum, and 58% reliant for vanadium. 🇨🇳 In 2023, China was the leading importer of these minerals from AGOA countries, with a significant increase in imports since 2021. 💣 Tantalum: AGOA countries produce over two-thirds of global output in 2023. Major AGOA producers include the DRC, Rwanda, Nigeria, and Mozambique. ✈ Vanadium: South Africa is a major producer outside China and Russia, contributing 9% of global production in 2023. ⛏ Niobium: Produced in the DRC, Mozambique, Rwanda, and Nigeria, though AGOA countries have a small global share, with more production planned. #AGOA #Africa #CriticalMinerals #USAfrica

📣 U.S. Ranks Second to Last Globally for Developing New Mines  Interesting insights from S&P Global’s new report underscore that the U.S. ranks second to last in the world for developing new mines essential for the energy transition. 🔍 Key Findings: ·     The U.S. has vast domestic reserves of critical minerals. However, it takes nearly 29 years for a U.S. mine to go from discovery to production, trailing only Zambia. ·     The development of a mine in the US is not only long and costly, production is unusually uncertain even if the mine receives all required permits due to higher litigation risk.  ·      The US receives significantly less in exploration budget per metric ton several major energy transition minerals – copper, lithium, nickel, and palladium – than Canada and Australia.  📊 Impact on Energy Transition:  ·     The report emphasizes that achieving Net-zero 2050 goals will require overcoming these lengthy lead times to meet the rising demand for critical minerals. For the full report and more details, visit: https://lnkd.in/g85QWi7u What’s Silverado’s solution to overcoming the U.S. need for more critical minerals domestically? We must act with more haste to create an enabling environment in the U.S. for mining and processing as a matter of national and economic security, while also incorporating high standards for environmental and labor, and local community engagement. #CriticalMinerals #Mining #EnergyTransition 

Silverado Policy Accelerator Co-Founder and Chairman Maureen H. participated in a panel discussion titled "U.S. Industrial Policy Meets the World" at the 2024 US-Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) Annual Policy Forum. The panel included discussion on the CHIPS Act, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and recent Biden administration proposed tariffs. The panel explored how export controls, tariffs, and subsidies are being used to address unfair trade practices, secure supply chains, and encourage domestic job growth. Key topics included the impact of the U.S. approach to trade and investment on economic relationships with trading partners, identifying who benefits and who is left behind, and the challenges these strategies face in achieving their desired goals. #EconomicPolicy #GlobalEngagement #USPECC2024 #SilveradoPolicy #CHIPSAct #IRAct #TradePolicy #SupplyChain #EconomicGrowth

Why are AGOA countries crucial for Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) in the United States? Explore Silverado's first data series on AGOA critical minerals, specifically focusing on PGMs: https://lnkd.in/eY5FHHSF Key Highlights: 🔋 PGMs such as palladium, platinum, rhodium, ruthenium, and iridium are indispensable in the United States for semiconductors, fuel cells, and military and defense applications. 🌎 The U.S. relies heavily on imports of PGMs, with 83% import dependency on platinum and 37% on palladium. 🇿🇦 South Africa, a key AGOA partner, is the largest producer of PGMs globally and holds nearly 90% of global PGM reserves, followed by Russia.

Last week, the 2nd Africa Diplomatic Roundtable on Critical Minerals was co-hosted by Silverado Policy Accelerator, Principal to Principal, and Prosper Africa to build on our ongoing discussions about how the United States and Africa can deepen their partnership on critical minerals supply chains. The roundtable brought together participants from Principal to Principal’s Global Supply Chain Task Force, U.S. government officials, and members of the diplomatic community. Special recognition goes to Ambassadors Alfredo Nuvunga of Mozambique, Elsie Kanza of Tanzania, and Chibamba Kanyama of Zambia for their attendance.   Looking ahead...Silverado plans to launch a series of data dashboards focusing on critical minerals in AGOA countries in the coming weeks. We are using data to inform policy options as the AGOA reauthorization discussion continues.   For updates and insights into Silverado’s work on AGOA-related critical minerals, follow this space! #CriticalMinerals #Africa #AGOA

Silverado Chairman and Co-Founder, Maureen H. spoke at the Bipartisan Policy Center’s inaugural Climate and Trade Summit on July 10th. Maureen provided her insights on the “Border Carbon Design: Where Policy and Politics Meet” panel alongside Jane Fiegal of Stripe Climate and Frontier and George David Banks of Bipartisan Policy Center moderated by John Jacobs of Bipartisan Policy Center. Maureen laid out Silverado’s best practices for border carbon measure (BCM) design:  🚛They should be technically practicable for businesses to implement without increasing their compliance costs.  💲 They should avoid manufacturing taxes on US businesses before leveling the playing field, meaning overseas competitors are also paying.  🌎 Additionally, there should be incentives for international partnerships like a carbon club in order to make a BCM more internationally viable. Check out the full Summit recording and Maureen’s panel here: https://lnkd.in/em3VDXRi Read more about Silverado's views on Border Carbon Measures in our Compendium of Technical Notes: https://lnkd.in/eY8eK9sw

Mahnaz Khan, VP of Policy at Silverado Policy Accelerator, testified yesterday at the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party's Critical Minerals Policy Working Group, alongside bipartisan leadership including Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA), Rep. Castor (D-FL), Rep. Torres (D-NY), Rep. Gimenez (R-FL), and Rep. Luetkemeyer (R-MO). The discussion focused on actions the U.S. can take to reduce reliance on Chinese imports of critical minerals and downstream products, and to look at ways to diversify midstream processing to sources other than China. During the session, Silverado advocated for a comprehensive national strategy on critical minerals, leveraging existing legislation such as the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020. Silverado also proposed taking a risk-based approach and prioritizing U.S. action on to facilitate more resilient supply chains on a subset of critical minerals where the United States is the most dependent upon imports, and grouping these critical minerals into three categories: 🚗 EV Critical Minerals: Essential for lithium-ion batteries powering electric vehicles (EVs). 💣 Strategic Defense Critical Minerals: Crucial for military, defense, and industrial applications, where the United States currently has over 75% net import reliance on a foreign entity of concern, such as China and Russia. 🍃 Greentech Critical Minerals: Used in renewable energy sources such as wind, nuclear, and geothermal power. Silverado further recommended: ·    Establishing lead agencies with existing Supply Chain centers for each critical mineral grouping to streamline efforts and minimize duplication. ·    Using Silverado’s "friendshoring litmus test" to engage allies in securing critical mineral agreements or security of supply arrangements. Silverado will be publishing more on this soon! Stay tuned! ·    Exploring the creation of a central financing authority within the U.S. government to coordinate all existing interagency federal financing units and facilitate private sector access to funding for critical mineral projects. For a video of the Critical Minerals Working Group Session, visit: https://lnkd.in/eJQ_9hK5

Looking back on the Silverado Summit, reflecting on the insights shared in the “Revolutionizing Supply Chains” panel moderated by Kristi Rogers with participants Sushan Demirjian, Evan Smith, Jasper Jung, and Narayan Subramanian.  The panel discussed the need to build resilient supply chains, focusing on American innovation and entrepreneurship. The discourse focused on realigning supply chains through “the way we implement them, the way we use technology to see upstream and downstream, the way we incentivize them, the way we regulate them, and the way we partner around them.”   The participants discussed American resilience as a way to tackle these challenges.  Spotlight quote: 🌟“The United States has been here before. We have faced more difficult challenges previously. American innovation, ingenuity, and our sheer grit have gotten us to move forward." Check out the rest of the panel on Silverado’s YouTube page here: https://lnkd.in/dG_YfUNS) #SupplyChain #WorldOnTheBrink #SilveradoPolicyAccelerator

Silverado Policy Accelerator, Principal to Principal, and US-India Strategic Partnership Forum have unveiled an actionable policy roadmap aimed at overcoming barriers and driving meaningful advancements in U.S.-India collaboration within their critical minerals sectors. 🇺🇸 🇮🇳 Our roadmap was informed by insights from businesses gathered during our high-level roundtable and were developed using a data-driven approach. We analyzed critical minerals production, reserves, and import dependencies of both countries to craft targeted policy recommendations. The roadmap also outlines the roles of U.S. and Indian government agencies responsible for implementing each policy recommendation. Explore our U.S.-India actionable policy roadmap for critical minerals here: https://lnkd.in/eTy5dHpc Discover Silverado’s India critical minerals data dashboard here: https://lnkd.in/eAe2Qy2S #USIndia #India #CriticalMinerals