The Pentagon has less than two years to eliminate Chinese-sourced magnets and metals from US weapons systems under new restrictions that also cover Iran, North Korea, and Russia, a mandate that threatens to disrupt defense production as the military scrambles to build alternative supply chains.
Starting January 1, 2027, defense contractors will be banned from using certain magnets, tantalum, and tungsten sourced from China, Iran, North Korea, or Russia under DFARS regulation 252.225-7052. The restriction covers samarium-cobalt magnets, neodymium-iron-boron magnets, tantalum metals and alloys, and tungsten materials.
For neodymium-iron-boron magnets specifically, the regulation covers “the entire supply chain from mining of neodymium, iron, and boron through production of finished magnets,” according to the DFARS text. The restrictions affect an estimated 78% of Pentagon weapons programs, from F-35 fighter jets to nuclear submarines.
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The policy stems from a discovery that shocked defense officials: investigators found a Chinese-made samarium-cobalt alloy inside the F-35’s turbomachine pump, temporarily halting deliveries of America’s most advanced fighter jet.
“That was a Sputnik moment for a lot of us,” a congressional aide told industry publication Rare Earth Exchanges.
While the regulation applies to four countries, the practical impact centers on China due to its overwhelming market dominance. China currently controls about 85% of rare earth processing and more than 90% of magnet production. A single F-35 contains 900 pounds of rare earth materials, while Virginia-class submarines require more than four and a half tons.
The Defense Department has invested over $439 million since 2020 to rebuild domestic rare earth capabilities, including backing MP Materials’ planned magnet factory in Texas. But the scale gap remains enormous: MP Materials expects to produce 1,000 tons of magnets annually by late 2025, compared to China’s 300,000 tons in 2024.
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The challenge has intensified as China imposed export restrictions on seven critical rare earth elements in April 2025, requiring government licenses for shipments abroad. These elements are used in the permanent magnets covered by the Pentagon’s ban. The restrictions followed escalating trade tensions between Washington and Beijing.
“The United States is particularly vulnerable for these supply chains,” according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, which noted that nearly all antimony used in key weapons platforms such as the F-16 and Minuteman III missile passes through Chinese processing at some stage.
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Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy Laura Taylor-Kale warned in 2024 that the US “can no longer afford to rely on overseas, single points of failure for critical components.”
Defense contractors face contract termination if they cannot certify their supply chains comply with DFARS 252.225-7052 by the 2027 deadline. The Pentagon plans to use random spot checks with X-ray fluorescence technology to enforce compliance.
But the timeline may prove unrealistic. Australia and other allies are expanding rare earth production, but most projects won’t reach full capacity until the late 2020s.
The Pentagon’s goal: establish a complete “mine-to-magnet” supply chain capable of meeting all US defense needs by 2027, reducing strategic dependence on covered countries — particularly China — for materials critical to national security.
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