Powering Freedom: Why Mineral Self-Reliance Matters

America’s strategic competition with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is no longer an abstract debate about tariffs or trade deficits; it’s about whether we can produce the advanced ships, fighter jets, precision-guided missiles, hypersonics, and next-gen batteries that keep our military dominant and our nation secure. Without reliable access to critical minerals like rare earth minerals for magnets in missile guidance or gallium for radar systems, we risk watching our defense industrial base grind to a halt while adversaries hold the keys.

That stark reality hit hard at the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on February 24, 2026. The Chairman warned that China’s dominance over critical mineral supply chains represents one of America’s greatest strategic vulnerabilities. The United States imports more than 70% of its rare earth elements and over 60% of its antimony–essentials for everything from F-35 engines to drone tech and advanced electronics–directly from China. When a communist regime controls the raw materials of modern warfare and innovation, it gains leverage over markets and influence over liberties. 

The hearing identified urgent bipartisan consensus and acknowledgement that the United States led global critical mineral production through the 1980s before offshoring capacity in pursuit of short-term cost savings. That decision hollowed out the domestic industry and allowed China to consolidate control. Today, the country produces roughly 95% of the world’s heavy rare earth elements. The use of the Department of Defense’s equity investments under the Defense Production Act (DPA) raises concerns about the legal authority, pricing mechanisms, and fairness to other domestic producers. Defending freedom requires not only strength but accountability. If America is to rebuild its industrial base, it must be transparent with the American people.

Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy Michael Cadenazzi framed the situation plainly: a Chinese export cutoff would have been debilitating to US defense manufacturing. The National Defense Stockpile could have provided only a temporary buffer before a production crunch affected weapon systems. He laid out a clear four-pillar strategy:

1. Reshoring domestic production through the DPA and industrial base fund,

2. Strengthening supply chains with trusted allies,

3. Investing in research and development for substitutes and recycling, and

4. Modernizing the National Defense Stockpile.

In just 14 months, the Department has invested nearly $1 billion in critical minerals projects and is leveraging an additional $5 billion appropriated from Congress. Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Resilience Jeffrey Frankston emphasized that this whole-of-government approach recognizes that confronting authoritarian leverage requires sustained, coordinated action.

Debate zeroed in on tools like DPA equity investments and price floors (e.g., the MP Materials deal and its $110/kg price floor). Cadenazzi championed them as smart ways to crowd in private capital, send a long-term demand signal, and counter China’s practice of undercutting Western producers through opaque pricing and disregard for environmental and labor standards. Committee members pressed for clearer legislative authority, transparent pricing, and fairness to ensure these efforts remain legally sound and do not distort markets.

The CPAC Defeating Communism Coalition is focused on exposing and dismantling communist and authoritarian ideologies that threaten liberty and distort truth. China’s dominance of critical minerals is not merely an economic issue; it is a strategic weapon wielded by a regime that rejects democratic values and self-governance. By educating the public about supply chain vulnerabilities, demanding transparency in federal action, promoting decisive industrial policy grounded in constitutional authority, and uniting policymakers across party lines, we advance the cause of freedom. Rebuilding America’s critical mineral independence isn’t optional; it’s essential to ensuring that no authoritarian power can hold hostage the tools of our national defense or the future of the free world.