A recent report highlights that China’s dominance in critical minerals poses a significant threat to the United States military supply chain, potentially impacting nearly 78% of Pentagon weapon systems. Researchers from Govini found that five essential minerals—antimony, gallium, germanium, tungsten, and tellurium—are integral to over 80,000 American weapons parts, thereby underscoring the deep reliance of US defense capabilities on Chinese output.
These concerns are exacerbated by China’s recent export controls, which target the very materials essential for military manufacturing. With export restrictions already in place for gallium and germanium since July 2023 and for tungsten and tellurium since early 2024, the report indicates a growing vulnerability in the US defense sector. As demand for these minerals in weapon systems has surged by an average of 23.2% per year over the past 15 years, the implications for US military readiness are increasingly critical.
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