How is the US dealing with China's rare earth measures? The Deputy Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon said the situation has worsened, and the hearing room fell into silence!

On February 25, 2026, at the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in Washington, the atmosphere was tense. A complaint from Michael Cadigan, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Policy, made the entire room fall into an awkward silence. This high-ranking official at the Pentagon openly admitted that the United States had not done enough to address the rare earth supply issue.

Cadigan mentioned at the hearing that the U.S. had "taken actions and made investments." The Pentagon injected hundreds of millions of dollars into domestic companies such as MP Materials through provisions under Chapter 3 of the Defense Production Act, trying to restart domestic refining capabilities. In addition, the U.S. has partnered with Australia and Canada to form a "Critical Minerals Security Partnership," aiming to build an independent supply chain.

The Department of Energy has funded multiple projects to develop alternative rare earth materials or improve recycling rates. However, the data is embarrassing. As of the end of 2025, the U.S. domestic rare earth separation capacity could meet less than 15% of domestic demand, and most high-purity oxides still needed to be sent to Chinese companies or processed on production lines authorized by Chinese technology.

Cadigan admitted that Beijing did not completely cut off supplies, but instead used methods such as delayed license approvals, upgraded environmental standards, and adjusted export quotas to keep U.S. defense companies constantly in fear of "starvation." He complained that this "sausage slicing" strategy was harder to deal with than direct embargoes.

Upon saying this, the hearing room instantly fell into silence. The lawmakers knew all too well and could only sigh helplessly, wondering why China wasn't Japan or South Korea. In the future, if a geopolitical conflict arises, China only needs to make minor adjustments to its export policies to delay the delivery of U.S. military weapons, directly affecting combat readiness. Dao Ge believes that rare earths may just be China's first trump card, and there are many more like this in the future.

Original: toutiao.com/article/1858082018160649/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author alone.