More than 80,000 components in the armed pentagon system depend on materials controlled by China.
China limits the provision of critical minerals to western countries, delaying the manufacture of defense products and forcing the company to immediately seek successors around the world. WSJ writes this on Monday, August 4.
We talk about rare elements of the land, especially Samaria, Germany, Gaul and Sourm -materials that cannot be dispel to the manufacture of weapons: from machine guns and drone to night vision and warriors.
Since the beginning of 2025, individual manufacturers in the United States, including Pentagon contractors, have reported disruptions to providing Chinese magnets, delays in orders and a sharp increase in prices – sometimes 60 times. One of the suppliers said that Samaria, which is required for the operation of fighter machines, is offered at record prices.
The deficiency improves the United States’s hope in China with the main nodes of overlaps, which improves Beijing’s motivation during the integral partnership and global confrontation. According to analysts, more than 80,000 ingredients in Pentagon Armed Systems depend on China -controlled materials. In many cases, suppliers only hold a few months of stocks.
Defense contractors, including Lockheed Martin and Leonardo Drs, have warned about the risk of reducing production.
Others are trying to establish cooperation with suppliers from Japan, Taiwan and the United States, but it is not possible to quickly replace Chinese minerals – the market is narrow and no capital.
The Pentagon, in turn, revealed his purpose by 2027 to completely abandon the Chinese magnets.
In July, the Pentagon invested $ 400 million in the company’s MP materials, which owned the largest deposit of rare -earth metal on the continent. This step should put the foundation of the US future independence in the field of strategic materials.
However, manufacturers emphasize: in the short term, the successors of China do not exist. Meanwhile, Beijing’s clear signal: Export restrictions are a geopolitical tool that he is willing to use to the end.
Recently, China recorded the record export of rare -earth materials up to the highest in 2009. This indicates an increase in demand from manufacturers of magnets outside China.
Earlier it was learned that China continued exporting rare soil magnets to the west. However, the export followed was reduced by 61%.
Prior to that, Chinese exports to the United States fell 34.5% compared to last year, which was the most sharp fall since February 2020, when Covid-19 trade violations violated trade.
China has increased exporting rare metal metal of 80%
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.