Joe Biden's Buying Metals Abroad Could End Controversial Mining Projects On 5/25/21 at 5:36 PM EDT Officials within President Joe Biden's administration are working on a plan to collect the materials needed for energy-efficient vehicles without ostracizing environmentalists key to the Democratic voter base, who are often opposed to domestic mining projects, Reuters reported Tuesday. Instead of mining materials needed to build electric vehicles domestically, two unnamed administration officials told Reuters Biden will focus on purchasing the metals overseas and bring them into the U.S. Once the raw materials arrive, American workers will turn them into things like batteries, so electric vehicles can be built.