H.R. 7037, Developing Overseas Mineral Investments and New Allied Networks for Critical Energies (DOMINANCE) Act

Bottom Line Up Front

H.R. 7037, the Developing Overseas Mineral Investments and New Allied Networks for Critical Energies (DOMINANCE) Act, gives the federal government vital tools to break the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) grip on global critical mineral and strategic energy supply chains. The bill codifies the Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement (FORGE), the successor to the Mineral Security Partnership, and authorizes Energy Security Pacts. Together, these tools enable the State Department to enter long-term agreements with partner countries to align financing, infrastructure development, and cooperation across critical minerals and nuclear energy. The bill also establishes a Bureau of Energy Security and Diplomacy led by a Senate-confirmed Assistant Secretary.

Click here to read the full legislative text and view the list of cosponsors.

Why It Matters

• Beijing’s grip on critical minerals is a national security liability. China controls 70% to 99% of global processing for 11 critical minerals tied to energy and defense applications. It is also the leading supplier for 25 of the 30 critical minerals on which the United States is more than 50% import dependent. That dominance hands the CCP coercive power over inputs essential to American weapons systems, semiconductors, and clean energy technologies. Beijing has already shown it is prepared to weaponize this leverage against the United States and its partners.
• The United States has been outgunned in the global competition for influence over energy and minerals. Since 2015, China has outpaced the United States nearly ten-to-one in financing global energy projects, emerging as the leading partner for many developing countries. Beijing has also poured more than $94 billion into mining and processing ventures abroad between 2000 and 2023. Absent a deliberate U.S. counterstrategy, China will continue locking in long-term commercial relationships and infrastructure while America’s influence erodes.
• The DOMINANCE Act would equip Washington to coordinate with allies more effectively and de-risk private investment. By codifying the Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement (FORGE) and authorizing Energy Security Pacts, the bill creates a durable framework needed for sustained allied action. Mineral and strategic energy projects are slow, capital-intensive, and politically exposed. These factors have long deterred Western firms from competing in markets China dominates. However, predictable U.S. cooperation with allies changes that calculus, gives investors the policy certainty they need, and offers partner countries a high-standard alternative to opaque, state-driven Chinese financing.

Congressional Press Releases

Read statements from members of Congress who are supporting this legislation:

• → Rep. Young Kim (R-CA)
• → Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA)