The record
USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2024 (Talc and Pyrophyllite) reports US net import reliance between 1% and 21% of apparent consumption over 2019-2023 (6% in 2023), with import sources for 2019-2022 of Pakistan 52%, Canada 25%, China 13%, and other 10% — and notes that 'large quantities of crude talc were thought to have been mined in Afghanistan before being milled in and exported from Pakistan.'
Claim scope
The official US government account of recent US talc import reliance and sourcing, including the Afghanistan-mined/Pakistan-milled supply chain.
What this source does not establish
China is NOT the leading source of US talc imports in this publication — Pakistan is (52% vs China's 13%), and net import reliance was 6% in 2023, not 65%. This record does not establish that any import stream is contaminated; it maps sourcing only.
Limitations
Quote the import-source percentages exactly with their 2019-22 window. Useful for the map's supply-chain layer; pair with Longo's 'Chinese mine' testimony (attributed) rather than blending the two.
Source
Gov Report — USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2024, Talc and Pyrophyllite (January 2024)