These Materials Could Cripple America’s Defense Industrial Base
Macdonald Amoah, Morgan Bazilian, Clarkson Kamurai, and Jahara Matisek
August 28, 2025
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. It also appears successful in attracting sizable private capital.
But exposure remains acute because China dominates many device-grade processes and has layered export license controls on almost a dozen critical materials since August 2023. Although a new trade framework resumed shipments for rare-earth magnets, licensing discretion remains in China’s hands.
Washington should act now.
https://warontherocks.com/2025/08/these-materials-could-cripple-americas-defense-industrial-base/
