Critical minerals are key elements in promoting low-carbon technology development and energy transition, and their supply security is frequently impacted by economic policy uncertainty. Based on global nickel trade data from 2000 to 2022, this study empirically investigates how economic policy uncertainty affects the resilience of trade network across different segments of the nickel industry chain. The findings are as follows: (1) Economic policy uncertainty has a significant suppressive effect on the resilience of the trade network in the midstream and downstream segments of the nickel industry chain, while its impact on the upstream segments is relatively limited. (2) Economic policy uncertainty disrupts the orderly functioning of financial markets and triggers sharp fluctuations in nickel product trade prices, thereby undermining the resilience of the nickel trade network. (3) The suppressive effect of economic policy uncertainty on the resilience of the nickel trade network is more pronounced in core countries located in the middle and lower reaches of the industrial chain.