The Trump administration is expanding its partnerships with private companies to boost the production of rare earth magnets used in energy and defense applications in an effort to curb the United States’s reliance on China. 

President Donald Trump has sought to strengthen the domestic supply of critical minerals and rare earth elements, which are needed to build technologies such as aircraft, missiles, and batteries. The administration has begun taking stakes in and making deals with U.S. and allied mining companies to counter China’s dominance of the supply chain.