The Pentagon has sought to procure up to $1bn worth of critical minerals as part of a global stockpiling spree to counter Chinese dominance of the metals that are essential to defence manufacturers.
The Trump administration’s accelerated effort to bolster the national stockpile is outlined in public filings published in recent months by the Pentagon’s Defense Logistics Agency. It follows export restrictions imposed on many of the materials by China, which dominates the supply chains for critical minerals and permanent magnets needed for technologies from smartphones to fighter jets.
“They [the US defence department] are incredibly focused on the stockpile,” said one former defence official. “They’re definitely looking for more, and they’re doing it in a deliberate and expansive way, and looking for new sources of different ores needed for defence products.”