What the records add up to

The rest of the Factbook answers what is on file. Briefings answer what happened. Each one is built from records already in the corpus, quotes its primary documents directly, and links every figure to the document it comes from.

Briefings are editorial. They are not records, they carry no claim or event envelopes, and where the underlying evidence is thin they say so. For how records themselves are verified, see the methodology.

1. Aug 18, 2026 · Lithium

   A tonne of lithium carbonate is not a tonne of lithium

   Product mass, contained lithium, and lithium-carbonate equivalent answer different questions. Converting between them requires a named compound and a declared basis.

2. Aug 13, 2026 · Graphite

   DOE cancelled Anovion’s $117 million graphite award after $13.8 million had gone out the door

   The anode graphite startup held a nine-figure federal grant and first position on the tariff petition against its Chinese competition. Between October 2025 and April 2026 it lost both.

3. Aug 13, 2026 · Graphite

   The US found Chinese anode graphite dumped and subsidized, then imposed no duties

   The active anode material case cleared every step but the last one. It turned on material retardation, a test that asks whether imports are stopping an industry from getting established rather than injuring one that already exists.