Domestic Rare Earth Magnet Manufacturing is Critical for America's Future

    Rare earth (RE) magnets are an incredibly important good. Every modern piece of technology you can name contains RE magnets. Your smartphone utilizes RE magnets as a crucial component for speakers, vibration motors, camera focus mechanisms, and more. Electric cars use RE magnets in their motors, steering, and braking systems [1]. A single F-35 Lightning II jet fighter contains approximately 920 pounds of RE materials [2]. Without RE magnets, modern technology as we know it could not exist.

    Now, imagine if our supply of RE magnets was suddenly cut off. Our nation would be crippled. Unfortunately, this may be a real possibility. As of today, China produces 93% of the world's RE magnets [3]. That is a staggeringly large number. China essentially has a monopoly on RE magnets. If provoked, China could sanction our supply rare earths. We would be at their mercy. This is not without precedent. During a 2010 territorial dispute, China unofficially cut off Japan's supply of RE materials [4]. The dispute was resolved relatively quickly without further escalation, and the restrictions were lifted. Still, this event serves as a reminder of how easily China can force a nation into submission through trade restrictions. 

    In 2025, China put trade restrictions on RE materials once again in response to Trump's tariffs [5]. This has accelerated the need for a domestic supply of RE materials. The process for manufacturing a RE magnet is by no means easy. First, heavy minerals sands (HMS) are mined from a site with large RE deposits. The HMS contains key minerals such as monazite and xenotime. These minerals contain rare earth compounds. Monazite and xenotime can be separated from the gangue through physical processing (such as magnetic separation) or through froth flotation. After the monazite and xenotime are extracted, they are leached using a strong base or acid. After leaching, what remains are mixed rare earth compounds (which can be calcined into mixed rare earth oxides). These mixed rare earth oxides (REOs) contain neodymium oxide, praseodymium oxide, lanthanum oxide, and more. The REOs must be separated from one another. Solvent extraction is the most common separation technique. Modern separation techniques include ion exchange and chromatography. After the REOs are separated, they are reduced into metal. Calcium metal is used to reduce the rare earth oxides at a very high temperature under vacuum. Certain REOs can also be reduced using electrolytic methods. Lastly, the metals are processed and sintered into magnets [6].

    The above description is a gross over-simplification of the process, yet goes to show how complex rare earth manufacturing is. If domestic RE magnet production is to be feasible, a large amount of capital investment is required. The US Government recognizes this. In July of 2025, the Pentagon became the largest shareholder of MP Materials (the largest RE material company in America) [7]. The DoD put a price floor on neodymium-praseodymium oxides to encourage domestic RE production [8]. More developments in the RE world are happening everyday. The Trump administration recently invested $1.6 billion in a US RE company called USA Rare Earth (an exceedingly creative name) [9]. It is clear that a large push is being made to secure a domestic supply of RE magnets. The proposed acquisition (invasion?) of Greenland is, at least partially, driven by the need for rare earths [10]. 

    Rare earths possess a critical role in modern technology and national security. If America wants to remain a superpower, it needs domestic rare earths. The complex chemistry of RE manufacturing interests me to no end.  I would be excited to join the RE manufacturing industry to help strengthen our domestic supply. At the same time, I'd feel a deep sense of unease. One of the main reasons rare earth companies are being funded is for military supply chains. While national security is important, the prospect of my work indirectly enabling greater military lethality is morally complex and difficult to ignore.