A long, long time ago in a political world far, far more civil than it is today, candidate Donald Trump suggested that the United States should seize Iraq’s oil in order to help reimburse the war cost for American tax payers.
Truthfully the US of A has little need for Arabian oil as we produce enough here (as well as buy plenty of oil from Canada & Mexico) but another war torn nation may have a resource that America is lacking in abundance.
In 2010, U.S. officials estimated the value of Afghanistan’s unexploited mineral deposits at $1 trillion. But as the security situation deteriorated significantly, the price of the commodities involved has sunk.
The Afghan government only became open to the possibility of the U.S. exploiting mineral resources after Trump took office. Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani reportedly talked mining with Trump in one of their first conversations. Ghani supposedly changed his mind because he realized Trump would be “intrigued by the commercial possibilities,” as the Times put it. (Reason Blog)
The demand for lithium in the US will skyrocket as electric car companies like Tesla (who now needs to build 2 or 3 more gigafactories) compete with tech titans like Apple, Samsung, et al, to secure the precious mineral for their lithium batteries.
Dollar wise America has already spent trillions in order to keep the former terrorist haven from being reconquered by the Taliban—and it’s doubtful that trend will end in the near future.
So the question remains: should Donald Trump allow the United States to strip mine Afghanistan for lithium or should America continue to buy lithium from China‽
Image Credit: Daily Mail
