Opinion Pieces by Rob

The Chinese Communist Party’s recent decision to restrict exports of rare earth elements and magnets stunned many pundits and analysts. But for those who have observed China’s decades-long campaign to consolidate and control the rare earth industry, it was entirely predictable.

Beijing has played this card before: In 2010, it shut off rare earth exports to Japan amid a fishing dispute. The Chinese government saw what many in Washington didn’t: Rare earths are one of the most critical supply chain vulnerabilities for the United States and its allies. This is particularly relevant to the production of magnets, which in turn are critical to virtually all advanced electronics.

Washington missed the warning signs back then, but we can’t afford to now. Concerted action by Congress and President Donald Trump can break down the structural barriers that have prevented domestic magnet manufacturing — and reclaim America’s economic future and national security.

Magnets are more than just commodities. Along with batteries and semiconductors, they are the building blocks of daily life and national security. While batteries store energy and semiconductors conduct electricity, magnets convert electricity into motion. They are the backbone of motors, generators, sensors and actuators — components that enable nearly all advanced electronics, from cellphones, robotics and AI data centers to semiconductor fabrication plants, satellites, drones and virtually all military platforms. Without rare earth magnets — especially lightweight and heat-tolerant neodymium iron boron magnets — nearly every technology the United States depends on would be inoperable.

And China has our rare earth magnet supply in a chokehold. As is especially clear today, China could, with a single export control, shut down almost all critical U.S. defense and commercial production lines. Almost every rare earth magnet manufacturer in the world is tied to China through ownership or related subsidiaries, or is dependent on China for material or equipment. That means the U.S. Navy’s entire fleet of ships and submarines, every MRI machine in the country and all our satellites are likely run on magnets that China made or mined. As the Critical Minerals Policy Working Group concluded in its final report in December, the United States must rethink its approach to the entire rare earth magnet supply chain.

In 2021, the U.S. auto industry learned the hard way that a fragile supply chain for a single component can be catastrophic: When China’s pandemic lockdowns caused semiconductor chip shortages, U.S. auto revenue was expected to plummet by $210 billion in one year. The U.S. military could face a similar supply chain crisis over magnets — with existential consequences.

Washington must be able to produce its most important defense capabilities without having to ask permission from Beijing, which could put trackers in magnets to be activated in a conflict against American forces. Such concerns led the Pentagon to pause the F-35 program a few years ago after discovering Chinese alloy in the aircraft’s magnets.

Unless we change the current trajectory, the United States will become more dependent on China for magnets, as Chinese-affiliated companies expand to meet surging demand — funded by U.S. consumers and taxpayers. By 2040, experts are predicting a likely 400 percent rise in the demand for critical rare earth elements. If we do not build a domestic magnet manufacturing capability to absorb new demand, our reliance on Beijing will deepen.

Congress and the Trump administration must address three structural challenges. First, the president should level the international playing field to put American manufacturers on an equal footing with Chinese companies. Given China’s lower labor costs, use of state subsidies and other unfair trade practices throughout its rare earth supply chain, it is not surprising that China could sell magnets at much lower prices.

Former president Joe Biden directed a 25 percent tariff on Chinese NdFeB magnets to begin in 2026. Trump might create additional targeted and enduring tariffs on Chinese magnets to signal to Beijing that undercutting American manufacturers doesn’t pay. Whatever one’s opinion on across-the-board trade policy, targeted actions countering China’s unfair trade practices on specific minerals, materials or goods can be effective and are long overdue.

Second, Trump should allocate significant investments toward NdFeB magnet companies that are fully decoupled from China. Fortunately, over the last 18 months, promising U.S. magnet manufacturers have emerged. The president’s March 20 executive order on Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production was a strong first step. Now, agencies like the Defense Department need to put forward funding to execute on it.

Finally, as the working group put it, America’s magnet workforce has been “hollowed out” — including the expertise to build manufacturing equipment. That’s why nearly every piece of equipment is imported from China. It’s time to put forward a concrete legislative agenda to rebuild the magnet workforce with the help of targeted training programs and state and local governments.

Washington must wake up to this next front in China’s supply chain warfare. The threat is unmistakable. It’s now up to the United States to do what it does best: compete, innovate — and win.

U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman represents the 1st Congressional District of Virginia, which includes the Historic Triangle, Poquoson, the Northern Neck, Middle Peninsula and part of the Richmond suburbs. He serves as vice chairman of both the House Armed Services Committee and the House Natural Resources Committee.