Sydney Hudson, Wilson Beaver
When Allied forces faced fuel shortages in World War II, General George Patton famously remarked, “My men can eat their belts, but my tanks gotta have gas.”REF Eventual Allied success drew, in part, from a rich supply of minerals. While Axis powers were limited in mineral supplies, the United States and Great Britain maintained the greatest wealth of such resources in the world. Russia and France were similarly well endowed, though to a lesser extent.REF
Critical minerals play a crucial role in missile systems, military aircraft, ammunition, and semiconductor production, enabling unique combat capabilities and essential inputs to the industrial base.REF The United States is almost fully reliant on imports for several key strategic defense critical minerals—including cobalt, rare earth elements, gallium, arsenic, and antimony—with a concerning share of production centered in foreign entities of concern.REF
China Has Cornered the Market
The Chinese Communist Party’s five-year plan explicitly details how “becoming a science technology powerhouse is an issue of national security.”REF China dominates the world’s refining of rare earth elements, with the capacity to cut off 40 percent to 50 percent of global supply at will, which would have significant impacts on advanced components in Department of Defense systems.REF Over the past decade, China has shifted its engines of economic growth from home appliances, clothing, and furniture to solar panels, lithium-ion batteries, and new energy vehicles.REF In 2023, clean energy investment rose by 40 percent in China to a total of $890 billion, while new energy sectors (including the value of production) contributed $1.6 trillion to the Chinese economy.REF
Non-Chinese mineral supplies are currently extremely limited in U.S. defense supply chains, and Chinese stockpiles dwarf American counterparts. Chinese strategic reserves carry 7,000 metric tons of cobalt, for example, while the United States currently maintains a strategic stockpile of only 300 metric tons.REF Cobalt is essential in military function for munitions, » Read More
https://www.heritage.org/defense/report/securing-critical-mineral-supply-chains-defense-priority