Beijing's Grip Tightens: How China Is Strangling Western Military Supply Chains
Beijing’s export crackdown on critical minerals exposes the West’s military vulnerabilities and puts defense contractors on high alert.

China has drawn a sharp line in the sand. In a strategic move that’s reverberating across the global defense sector, Beijing has tightened its grip on critical mineral exports, applying pressure right where it hurts the West the most—its military supply chain. Rare earths, gallium, germanium, antimony—the lifeblood of modern defense technology—are now caught in a geopolitical tug-of-war, with China in the driver’s seat and the United States scrambling to catch up.
In a world increasingly defined by who controls the supply chains, Beijing’s stranglehold on rare earths has become a powerful geopolitical weapon. The stakes couldn’t be higher. From advanced drone motors to night-vision goggles, missile guidance systems, and the F-35 jet’s engine magnets, the U.S. defense industrial base is woven together with minerals that overwhelmingly originate in Chinese soil. It’s a reality that’s been ignored for too long, and now it’s threatening to unwind America’s technological edge.
Earlier this year, as trade tensions between Washington and Beijing boiled over, China escalated the conflict by slapping new restrictions on rare earth exports. Although a temporary thaw came after the Trump administration granted concessions in June, China didn’t budge on materials destined for defense purposes. The message was crystal clear: the minerals may flow, but not for your missiles.
