The Pentagon is aiming to acquire up to $1bn of critical minerals as part of a global spree to build stockpiles and mitigate China's dominance over these essential metals, which are crucial for defence manufacturers, reported the Financial Times (FT).  

The US Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) is spearheading this initiative, aiming to enhance the national reserve of minerals crucial to defence manufacturers. 

China controls the supply chains for critical minerals and permanent magnets, which are essential for applications including smartphones and military equipment. 

Recently, China expanded its export restrictions on rare earth elements, adding five more elements to the list, and implemented more stringent rules targeting users in the semiconductor industry. 

In response, US President Donald Trump cancelled a planned meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and announced a 100% tariff on Chinese imports. 

A former defence official told the FT: “They [the US defence department] are incredibly focused on the stockpile. 

“They’re definitely looking for more, and they’re doing it in a deliberate and expansive way and looking for new sources of different ores needed for defence products.” 

Another former defence official said: “The $1bn investment represents a significant increase in stockpiling efforts.” 

Critical minerals are vital for national security, underpinning weapons systems and technologies such as radar and missile detection. 

The Pentagon's recent stockpiling activities reflect the Trump administration's heightened focus on these resources. Some of the targeted metals were not previously stockpiled, according to the report. 

Recently, the DLA purchased up to $500m of cobalt and $245m of antimony from the US Antimony Corporation, and $100m of tantalum from an undisclosed US company. 

The agency also procured a combined $45m of scandium from Rio Tinto and APL Engineered Materials. These materials are reserved for national defence needs or wartime. 

This move is part of a broader strategy outlined in US President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBA), which includes $7.5bn for critical minerals. 

The act allocates $2bn specifically to strengthen the national defence stockpile, with the Pentagon planning to utilise these funds by late 2026 or early 2027. 

Additionally, the OBBA earmarks $5bn for defence department investments in critical minerals supply chains and provides $500m for a Pentagon credit programme to boost investments.