American Tungsten Corp. (TSXV: TUNG, OTCQB: DEMRF)
Building America’s Defense Critical Metals Supply
On May 15, 2026, U.S. President Donald Trump concluded his two-day visit to China and departed from Beijing. Although Trump himself described the visit as “very successful” and claimed to have reached “fantastic trade deals,” no substantive breakthrough was achieved on the closely watched issue of rare earth supply.
According to previously disclosed Chinese customs data, the rare earth export controls imposed by China in April 2025 in retaliation for Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs continue to profoundly impact global supply chains. While China’s overall rare earth exports have recovered somewhat over the past year, shipments of critical heavy rare earths such as yttrium, dysprosium, and terbium remain roughly 50% below the levels seen in the 12 months prior to the controls. These materials are indispensable to high-tech industries including electric vehicles, wind power, semiconductors, and defense systems.
Ilya Epikhin, Senior Principal at consultancy Arthur D. Little, noted that China is selectively issuing export licenses, maintaining leverage particularly over supply chains deemed strategically sensitive, especially those involving defense or advanced technology applications. This stands in stark contrast to the U.S. claim following the Seoul summit last October that China had agreed to “effectively eliminate” export controls on rare earths.
The rare earth shortage has already caused substantial damage to U.S. manufacturing. According to earlier Reuters reports, several U.S. aerospace companies temporarily halted production due to shortages of yttrium. The White House was even forced to directly intervene with Beijing to secure export approvals for a major U.S. industrial group with both civilian and defense operations; the company reportedly suffered hundreds of millions of dollars in monthly losses due to supply disruptions.
The situation is even more severe for U.S. allies. Japan and Germany, the largest consumers of Chinese rare earths outside the United States, have experienced the most acute supply disruptions. Data show that Japan has received only 4% of its previous import volumes of dysprosium, while Germany has received none since the controls were imposed. Data from consultancy Argus indicate that international prices for dysprosium and terbium have surged four- to five-fold, while yttrium prices have skyrocketed by about 140 times.
Although the U.S. and other G7 members are accelerating efforts to diversify rare earth supply chains, analysts warn that meaningful alternatives remain years away. Heidi Crebo-Rediker, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, stated that the U.S. and its allies cannot out-mine, out-process, or outspend China quickly enough to rebuild supply chain resilience in the near term.
It is foreseeable that with Trump leaving China without a rare earth agreement, critical minerals have become a central issue in U.S.-China strategic competition, with implications that go far beyond tariffs and will continue to reshape the economic and technological rivalry between the world’s two largest economies.
