US President Donald Trump’s push to end Washington’s reliance on Chinese critical minerals by January 2027 is colliding with a stark reality: American miners and processors aren’t ready. Trump has made US mining and processing of critical minerals a national security priority since returning to office, pouring tens of billions of dollars into nearly 150 minerals companies to loosen China’s grip on supply chains for weapons and other strategic products.
US Industry Not Ready
The defense industry and other manufacturers are now just over five months away from a January 1, 2027, deadline under federal regulations to stop purchasing rare earths, magnets, tungsten, molybdenum, and tantalum from China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea. However, US minerals companies are nowhere close to meeting domestic needs, according to interviews with 16 industry executives, investors, analysts, and policymakers.
In 2025, US demand for the most-common type of rare earth magnet, for example, was roughly 48,000 metric tons while domestic sources supplied 300 metric tons. US firms are on track to have the capacity to produce 5,000 metric tons by year-end. Rare earths, which are among the 60 minerals considered critical by Washington, must be processed before they are turned into magnets used to make weapons, automobiles, computers, and other products.
Delays and Uncertainties
U.S. firms haven’t produced tungsten since 2015 and tantalum since 1959. Guardian Metal Resources is working to open a US tungsten mine by 2028, while Lion Rock Resources is developing a tantalum mine in South Dakota, with no timeline for opening. The complexity of refining minerals has slowed down US projects.
Partnerships with South Korea, Japan, and other allies may offer a bridge for manufacturers until US suppliers can ramp up operations. Among the biggest US companies in the field, MP Materials, which is financially supported by the Pentagon, spent years calibrating its solvent extraction processing equipment, part of what CEO Jim Litinsky described as a “painstaking” process.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
