These Materials Could Cripple America’s Defense Industrial Base

Payne Institute Communications Associate Macdonald Amoah, Director Morgan Bazilian, Critical Minerals Program Manager Clarkson Kamurai, and Fellow Jahara Matisek write about how the Pentagon’s arsenal and defense industrial base is built on materials that China can turn off like a light switch. Growing uncertainty in critical mineral markets and the open weaponization of supply chains by China has prompted a paradigm shift in how the Pentagon addresses these issues.  August 28, 2025.