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May 14th, 2025 | 8:47 AM ET

For U.S. Defense Industry, These Minerals Really are ‘Critical’

China’s mines and processing sites hold keys to essential U.S. military supplies

Aerial view of excavators and transport vehicles busy with work at Dexing Copper Mine on August 16, 2024 in Shangrao, Jiangxi Province of China. (Photo by Tang Fangxiao/VCG via Getty Images)
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Posted: May 14th, 2025

By The Cipher Brief

DEEP DIVE – Coverage of the U.S.-China tariff war has focused on the impact for consumers – the potential for spikes in the prices of cars and iPhones and laptops and lower-end consumer goods that are made in China, or with Chinese-made parts. But one recent salvo from Beijing poses a major headache for the U.S. defense industry, and a potential national security risk: China’s imposition of export controls on rare earth minerals.

Rare earths and critical minerals are used in the production of U.S. fighter jets, warships, tanks, precision-guided ballistic missiles, and more. “There is not one thing that we use in the industry that doesn’t have some type of critical mineral or rare earth element,” Dak Hardwick, vice president for international affairs at the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), told The Cipher Brief. “It’s essential to the aerospace and defense industry.”

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Categorized as:critical minerals military Reporting Tech/CyberTagged with:

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