měi guó

美国

xī wàng

希望

jiǎn shǎo

减少

duì

对

zhōng guó

中国

wū kuàng

钨矿

de

的

yī lài

依赖

An important member of the U.S. Congress wrote a letter to a mining company, hoping to find out if the company can help the U.S. reduce its dependence on Chinese tungsten mines.

Tungsten is a very important metal, often used in the defense industry, such as making bullets, airplanes, and electronic products.

Currently, the U.S. does not produce tungsten itself; most tungsten is imported from China.

The congressman said in the letter that if the U.S. relies too much on Chinese tungsten, it could pose a risk to national security.

The mining company is called Almonty Industries, and they have a tungsten mine in South Korea called Sangdong.

The congressman wants to know when this mine can start production, how much tungsten it can produce each year, and whether this tungsten can be sold to the U.S. Department of Defense.

Almonty also stated that they hope to help the U.S. and other countries reduce dependence on China by mining tungsten in South Korea.