The DOMINANCE Act, which passed the House this month, would deploy a suite of diplomatic, financing, and other tools to strengthen U.S. critical mineral supply chains and deepen international cooperation.
Among its provisions, the bill directs the State Department to develop a diplomatic strategy for securing critical minerals and establish a mechanism to support projects abroad. One such strategy would be to promote domestic reforms in resource-rich partner countries, with the goal of improving business certainty and inviting more investment.
A compelling example is Argentina’s Incentive Regime for Large Investments (RIGI). The domestic program has attracted significant international investment, with 16 projects approved and at least 22 pending. This kind of stability is what supply chain development requires: U.S. investors prioritize investments in regulatory environments that improve certainty over a project’s lifecycle.
Key factors include strong property rights, transparent and predictable permitting, stable fiscal and regulatory regimes, foreign-exchange and profit repatriation rights, reliable infrastructure, and political stability. Increasingly, alignment with U.S. regulatory and policy standards—including eligibility for support from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. (EXIM)—can further improve project bankability and attract private capital.
As the DOMINANCE Act moves closer to enactment, and as the administration continues to engage with partners through the Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement (FORGE) and other mechanisms, policymakers should prioritize efforts to promote these and similar policies amongst partners. RIGI offers a useful model for what policies to consider in practice.
Unpacking Argentina’s Regime for Large Investments (RIGI):
RIGI is designed to attract large-scale investment in capital-intensive sectors by providing long-term legal certainty and investment incentives. Projects investing at least $200 million and meeting other eligibility requirements receive 30 years of fiscal, regulatory, and foreign-exchange stability, along with a reduced 25% corporate tax rate, VAT credits, customs duty exemptions, and foreign-exchange repatriation rights.
The improved investment climate has already helped attract an estimated $69.2 billion in proposed investments across mining, energy, and infrastructure, including approximately $46 billion in mining projects focused on copper and lithium. Planned investments in lithium processing capacity would allow Argentina to capture more value from the Lithium Triangle supply chain while supporting U.S. efforts to diversify battery material sourcing and processing away from China.
However, Argentina is already looking to move further down the supply chain. The proposed Super RIGI would offer enhanced incentives for strategic sectors further downstream—lithium-ion batteries and component parts, advanced energy infrastructure, etc.—signaling ambition to compete for a larger share of the critical mineral value chain.
These are precisely the types of domestic reforms that U.S. diplomatic engagement could encourage in resource-rich partner countries facing similar barriers to investment. Paired with strong environmental and labor, such as those envisioned in the DOMINANCE Act, these measures can help unlock private capital and accelerate critical mineral development in line with U.S. priorities.
Commercial Reforms Support Stronger Partnerships:
When the U.S. and Argentina signed the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade and Investment in February 2026, RIGI was formally incorporated into the bilateral framework. Argentina committed to fast-tracking qualifying U.S. investments through RIGI and to facilitating U.S. investment in critical mineral projects at the provincial level. In return, Argentina secured revised reciprocal tariff rates and a U.S. commitment to consider financing support through DFC and EXIM.
RIGI gave U.S. firms something concrete to build on and gave investors the certainty to treat the bilateral commitment as bankable rather than aspirational. By actively encouraging partner countries to develop and strengthen comparable frameworks, the diplomatic strategy mandated by the DOMINANCE Act could systematically expand opportunities with credible partners.
Global Momentum:
International momentum for pro-investment reforms is mounting, and the U.S. should actively cultivate it among priority partners. Peru has expanded its special economic zone framework to include mining investment incentives. Kazakhstan has pursued long-term stabilization agreements for large extractive projects. Saudi Arabia‘s Vision 2030 mining program offers comparable fiscal certainty for qualifying investments.
The lesson is clear: when countries adopt reforms that increase regulatory certainty and improve the commercial attractiveness of large-scale investments, private capital follows. As policymakers expand international engagement on critical minerals, elevating the private sector should be a core component to build more diversified and resilient critical mineral supply chains.