Datastream

Disruptive Materials: Visualizing America’s Import Dependency

Published

6 months ago

December 7, 2022

Aran Ali

Graphics/Design:

Pernia Jamshed

The following content is sponsored by Global X ETFs

The Briefing

The U.S. is 100% import dependent on manganese and graphite
China and Canada are the two nations the U.S. is most import reliant on

America’s Import Dependency for Disruptive Materials

The U.S. is expected to see surging demand for disruptive materials, which are those deemed to have high level importance for their role in next generation technologies. But many of these disruptive materials like manganese, cobalt, and lithium are primarily imported from foreign countries.

This graphic from Global X ETFs takes a closer look at America’s reliance on net imports for these disruptive materials. Countries are ranked by how many commodities of which the U.S. is a net importer. And net importer is defined as over 50% of domestic use or consumption comes from foreign sources rather than domestic production.

Ranking Country Reliance

The U.S. imports commodities from a lot of countries, including from economic rivals. And these commodities include well known ones like nickel, zinc, and lithium, which are critical to climate-friendly technologies. However, the data reveals that there are a select number of countries where dependency is highest. Here’s a look at the top eight countries.

Country	Number of Commodities Net Import Reliant
🇨🇳 China	19-23
🇨🇦 Canada	13-18
🇷🇺 Russia	7-12
🇮🇳 India	7-12
🇧🇷 Brazil	7-12
🇿🇦 South Africa	7-12
🇩🇪 Germany	7-12
🇲🇽 Mexico	7-12

The U.S. is most dependent on China where they are net import reliant on 19-23 different commodities, followed by Canada with 13-18. In addition, the U.S. is 100% import reliant on manganese and graphite, and 76% import reliant on cobalt.

As these materials become increasingly important for AI, robotics, drone technology, as well as for climate infrastructure like solar panels and wind turbines, nations will desire to bolster their own supply chains and be less reliant on other countries. This may also accelerate due to the pandemic highlighting the fragility behind global supply chains.

Overall, this creates an environment where the market for disruptive materials will see extended periods of high demand and rising prices, otherwise known as a demand supercycle.

Introducing the Global X Disruptive Materials ETF

The Global X Disruptive Materials ETF (Ticker: DMAT) seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Solactive Disruptive Materials Index.

To learn more about gaining exposure to the rising demand for disruptive materials, click here now.

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Economy

Charted: Public Trust in the Federal Reserve

Public trust in the Federal Reserve chair has hit its lowest point in 20 years. Get the details in this infographic.

Published

6 days ago

May 23, 2023

Marcus Lu

The Briefing

Gallup conducts an annual poll to gauge the U.S. public’s trust in the Federal Reserve
After rising during the COVID-19 pandemic, public trust has fallen to a 20-year low

Charted: Public Trust in the Federal Reserve

Each year, Gallup conducts a survey of American adults on various economic topics, including the country’s central bank, the Federal Reserve.

More specifically, respondents are asked how much confidence they have in the current Fed chairman to do or recommend the right thing for the U.S. economy. We’ve visualized these results from 2001 to 2023 to see how confidence levels have changed over time.

Methodology and Results

The data used in this infographic is also listed in the table below. Percentages reflect the share of respondents that have either a “great deal” or “fair amount” of confidence.

Year	Fed chair	% Great deal or Fair amount
2023	Jerome Powell	36%
2022	Jerome Powell	43%
2021	Jerome Powell	55%
2020	Jerome Powell	58%
2019	Jerome Powell	50%
2018	Jerome Powell	45%
2017	Janet Yellen	45%
2016	Janet Yellen	38%
2015	Janet Yellen	42%
2014	Janet Yellen	37%
2013	Ben Bernanke	42%
2012	Ben Bernanke	39%
2011	Ben Bernanke	41%
2010	Ben Bernanke	44%
2009	Ben Bernanke	49%
2008	Ben Bernanke	47%
2007	Ben Bernanke	50%
2006	Ben Bernanke	41%
2005	Alan Greenspan	56%
2004	Alan Greenspan	61%
2003	Alan Greenspan	65%
2002	Alan Greenspan	69%
2001	Alan Greenspan	74%

Data for 2023 collected April 3-25, with this statement put to respondents: “Please tell me how much confidence you have [in the Fed chair] to recommend the right thing for the economy.”

We can see that trust in the Federal Reserve has fluctuated significantly in recent years.

For example, under Alan Greenspan, trust was initially high due to the relative stability of the economy. The burst of the dotcom bubble—which some attribute to Greenspan’s easy credit policies—resulted in a sharp decline.

On the flip side, public confidence spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was likely due to Jerome Powell’s decisive actions to provide support to the U.S. economy throughout the crisis.

Measures implemented by the Fed include bringing interest rates to near zero, quantitative easing (buying government bonds with newly-printed money), and emergency lending programs to businesses.

Confidence Now on the Decline

After peaking at 58%, those with a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in the Fed chair have tumbled to 36%, the lowest number in 20 years.

This is likely due to Powell’s hard stance on fighting post-pandemic inflation, which has involved raising interest rates at an incredible speed. While these rate hikes may be necessary, they also have many adverse effects:

Negative impact on the stock market
Increases the burden for those with variable-rate debts
Makes mortgages and home buying less affordable

Higher rates have also prompted many U.S. tech companies to shrink their workforces, and have been a factor in the regional banking crisis, including the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

Where does this data come from?

Source: Gallup (2023)

Data Notes: Results are based on telephone interviews conducted April 3-25, 2023, with a random sample of –1,013—adults, ages 18+, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on this sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. See source for details.