The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awarded $500 million this August to seven companies involved in battery minerals, materials, manufacturing, or recycling. This initiative is part of the Trump administration's broader effort to build up the U.S. battery supply chain and reduce its reliance on China. However, analysts and executives told CNBC that this funding is small compared to what is needed to loosen China's grip on the industry. Furthermore, nearly $24 billion in announced battery projects have been canceled since Trump took office in January 2025. China currently dominates several points along the battery supply chain, from raw minerals and chemicals to finished products, a position that took decades and tens to hundreds of billions of dollars to achieve.