Political speech, timestamped and in context

Mike Rounds: “China controls about 80% of the world's tungsten.”

Featuring: Mike Rounds, Republican | U.S. Senate South Dakota

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Published October 1, 2026

So we're talking about a hypothetical that you're asked to respond to in which there was, as I understand it, a letter of interest was expressed. Because right now it looks like China controls about 80% of the world's tungsten. And there was a possibility we might, for America's needs, we had somebody that was interested in maybe getting some tungsten in this particular case of Kazakhstan. Is that correct? (49:12–49:15)

STATEMENT

Asserts that China has control over 80% of global tungsten supply.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

See the main statements from Mike Rounds in this video

“Crude oil exports from the Middle East are back up to the pre-conflict levels, somewhere right around 20 million barrels a day.”
Asserts that Middle East crude oil exports have returned to pre-conflict levels of approximately 20 million barrels per day.50:49-51:03
“Diesel is running north of $6 a gallon [in South Dakota].”
Asserts that diesel prices in South Dakota are over $6 per gallon.51:05-51:13
“We also lost two refineries in California in the last year as well, totaling about 17% of the total refining capacity for California, 11% of all of it along the West Coast.”
Asserts that California lost two refineries, affecting 17% of its refining capacity and 11% of the West Coast's.51:28-51:41
“Is there a loan that was issued by the Ex IM bank to anybody in question that our ranking member seems to be concerned about?”
Asserts inquiry into whether a loan was issued by the Ex IM bank related to concerns raised by the ranking member.48:08-48:15
“So we're talking about a hypothetical that you're asked to respond to in which there was, as I understand it, a letter of interest was expressed.”
Asserts that the discussion is about a hypothetical situation involving a letter of interest, not an actual loan.48:59-49:10