In invalidating the Biden-era changes, the court held that the FTC failed to show that the changes’ benefits outweighed their significant costs to merging parties, in particular, to the vast majority (historically, 92%) of parties whose transactions require no antitrust investigation whatsoever. 

On January 14, 2026, President Trump issued a proclamation following an investigation by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce (Secretary), under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. 1862) (Section 232), into the effects of imports of processed critical minerals and their derivative products (Critical Minerals) on the national security of the United States.