Brazilian Congress approves critical minerals law amid pressure from Trump

Brazil’s Congress has approved a law to expand critical-minerals extraction, giving President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva a legislative victory just over a month before the first round of presidential elections.

The Senate approved the measure symbolically on Wednesday after it passed through the Chamber of Deputies. It provides tax incentives of up to 5 billion reais, about $980 million, for investments in critical minerals and rare earths over five years.

The law also creates a government council with regulatory powers and the authority to veto changes in corporate control at mining companies. Projects will have to enter a mandatory registry, while Brazil’s National Mining Agency must prioritize concession processes for areas with potential to produce the resources.

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It will make it possible to generate jobs and income in Brazilian territory, adding value to the critical minerals Brazil possesses that unfortunately were being exported in raw form.

During the debate, Senator Eduardo Braga said the measure would create jobs and income in Brazil while adding value to minerals that had been exported in raw form. Lula has framed regulation of the sector as a defense of national sovereignty amid pressure from the White House to gain access to other countries’ natural resources.

“Estamos creando las condiciones para que seamos capaces de dominar el ciclo completo de extracción, producción, manufactura y exportación,” Lula wrote on social media after the vote. The bill had remained stalled in the Senate for months because of disputes between lawmakers and the government, but advanced after an agreement with Lula. Brazil holds some of the world’s largest reserves of materials used in products ranging from electric-vehicle batteries to wind turbines.

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We are creating the conditions to be able to control the complete cycle of extraction, production, manufacturing and export.