Domestic manufacturers have a warning for President Biden’s EPA: a proposed chemical ban may send the U.S. Military running to China for critical materials.
Last year to eliminate the use of certain chemicals in the U.S., Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency unveiled proposals as part of the Toxic Substances Control Act that could potentially ban methylene chloride — a key chemical in the manufacturing of bulletproof glass, helmets, and fighter jet canopies.
But polymer manufacturer Covestro argued in a June letter to the EPA that the ban would “require military and police related applications to be manufactured from foreign sourced materials.”
As in “foreign sourced materials” from China.
From The Washington Free Beacon:
At least one company, however, is arguing that…the Biden administration’s methylene chloride ban would impact the supply chain for military equipment.
Chemical manufacturer Nalas Engineering Services inked a $2 million deal with the Department of Defense in 2022 to “strengthen the domestic critical chemicals industrial base” and, as it wrote in a July letter to the EPA, is subsequently allowed to use banned chemicals “that are critical to the support of national security.” The company nonetheless argued in the July letter that a methylene chloride (DCM) ban would throw a wrench into its supply chain.
“Nalas manufactures chemicals that are critical to the support of national security. As such, Nalas’ processing of DCM is a specifically allowable condition of use per the proposed rule,” the company wrote. “However, Nalas is concerned that the additional proposal constraints—which prohibit uses that account for roughly a third of current DCM production—will have long-term supply chain implications.”
Boulder Scientific Company, another domestic manufacturer, is sounding the alarm over the proposed chemical ban, telling the EPA that “a methylene chloride ban could force large chemical producers “to seek suppliers of chemicals from non-domestic sources.”
Is it in our national security interests to have our enemies responsible for critical military equipment, Mr. President?
No. No, it isn’t.
