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Two bills that expand eligibility for the 45X Advanced Manufacturing Production Tax Credit to other critical minerals will be a boon to manufacturing in the U.S.—and Congress should take action, the NAM said recently.

What’s going on: H.R. 8277, introduced in April by Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ), and the Critical Mineral and Extraction Tax Parity Act, introduced by Rep. Blake Moore (R-UT), would designate copper as a critical mineral under the Section 45X credit and align the credit with the U.S. Geological Survey’s critical minerals list, respectively.

A supply chain necessity: “Currently, copper is not eligible as a critical mineral for the Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit,” the NAM and more than a dozen other allied business groups told the House Ways and Means Committee last week, speaking in support of H.R. 8277.

• Since the tax credit was passed in 2022, “disruptions in global supply chains coupled with exploding defense and domestic manufacturing demand have propelled copper to the top of the [U.S. Geological Survey] list of critical minerals. … There is an urgent need to support the development of secure, domestic mineral supply chains. Amending the statute would allow for the responsiveness needed to address a dynamic and alarming situation.”
• And the Critical Mineral and Extraction Tax Parity Act “will ensure greater access to those materials and help manufacturers launch projects that will secure our supply chains,” the NAM posted on X last week.

What else is included: In addition to copper, the Moore bill would bring boron, silicon, phosphate, uranium, silver, lead, potash and rhenium under Section 45X.

The last word: “The Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit is an important tool for boosting the domestic manufacturing of advanced technologies and bolstering U.S. competitiveness in the face of competition from China,” NAM Vice President of Domestic Policy Chris Phalen said in a Moore press release on the congressman’s legislation.

• “By aligning the 45X statute with the recently updated 2025 Critical Minerals List, Rep. Moore’s Critical Mineral and Extraction Tax Parity Act will ensure greater access to those materials and help manufacturers launch projects that will secure our supply chains.”