Rare Earths Dubbed "Real Battlefield" with China
A new analysis highlights rare earth magnets as the central arena in the U.S.-China strategic competition. These materials are critical for military hardware, EVs, and electronics, and China dominates the global supply chain. This dependence has made securing alternative sources and boosting domestic production a key national security priority for the U.S.
China's dominance isn't just in mining, where it extracts over 69% of the world's rare earths; its main leverage is in processing, where it refines nearly 90% of the global supply. This stranglehold extends to the manufacturing of high-performance rare earth magnets, with China producing almost 90% of them. These are not obscure materials. A single F-35 fighter jet requires more than 900 pounds of rare earth elements, and a Virginia-class submarine uses approximately 9,200 pounds. Key elements like neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and samarium are essential for the powerful, lightweight magnets required in advanced military guidance systems, lasers, and radar. The U.S. is not starting from zero, but it is playing catch-up. The Mountain Pass mine in California, owned by MP Materials, is the only large-scale rare earth mining and processing facility in the United States. Historically, it was a leading global supplier, but fell dormant due to Chinese competition before restarting operations. To close the gap, the Department of Defense has invested hundreds of millions since 2020 to build a domestic mine-to-magnet supply chain, with a stated goal of meeting all U.S. defense needs by 2027. This includes funding for companies beyond MP Materials, such as USA Rare Earth, which is developing a mine in Texas and a magnet plant in Oklahoma. The effort extends beyond just mining new materials. The Department of Energy has allocated funds, including $134 million announced in late 2025, to support the commercial viability of recovering rare earths from unconventional sources like electronic waste and mine tailings. China has already demonstrated its willingness to use this advantage as a political tool. In 2010, it halted rare earth exports to Japan during a territorial dispute, and in April 2025, it imposed export controls on several rare earth elements and magnets, signaling a direct challenge to the U.S. defense industrial base.
