The US defense industrial base is vulnerable to Chinese control over critical minerals, particularly in the refining and processing stages that are essential for advanced weapons, electronics, and batteries, according to War on the Rocks. In response, the Pentagon is shifting from stockpiling to targeted industrial interventions, exemplified by a 2025 deal with MP Materials, which utilized equity, price floors, and long-term contracts to build domestic rare earth capacity. This model is now being applied to seven high-risk materials—including gallium, graphite, titanium sponge, tungsten, and antimony- using a mix of domestic investment and allied partnerships to close chokepoints within 2–4 years. The goal is to reduce dependency, build resilient supply chains, and ensure foreign export controls don’t derail US defense production. They write:

The Pentagon’s arsenal and defense industrial base is built on materials that China can turn off like a light switch. Growing uncertainty in critical mineral markets and the open weaponization of supply chains by China has prompted a paradigm shift in how the Pentagon addresses these issues.

In July 2025, the Department of Defense and MP Materials structured a package comprising equity in the company, a 10-year price floor for certain rare earth elements, long-term magnet offtake, and project financing. This represents a major departure from previous investments to support the defense industrial base. […]

Crucially, most chokepoints rarely happen at the actual mine. Most problems occur in mid- and downstream steps such as refining, separation, smelting, high-purity processing, alloying, component manufacture, and device-grade finishing. Ore alone does not deliver security. Rather, mid- and downstream control does. […]

The principles are clear: Prioritize domestic chemistry and finishing first, rely on allies for interim feed and tolling, and build a shock-resilient industrial base that can sustain performance under duress.

Replicating the rare earths and magnet model across seven priority materials is the difference between resilience and vulnerability in the next conflict. If Washington acts, chokepoints can be closed. If it waits, the next war may see American production lines idled not by enemy strikes, but by Chinese chokeholds on minerals.

Read more here.

Also read, Magnets Run the World — And China Runs the Magnets, U.S. Invests in Domestic Production of Critical Materials, Louisiana Emerges as US Hub for Critical Minerals and Battery Materials, Apple Deepens U.S. Supply Chain with Rare Earth Deal, New U.S. Magnet Plant Announced in Multibillion-Dollar Defense Deal, & How China Weaponized Rare Earths to Shift U.S. Trade Policy