How the US Defense Industry Is Removing China From the Supply Chain

Keith Norman, from California-based battery manufacturer Lyten, said reliance on China becomes a ‘challenge’ during periods of heightened geopolitical risk.

Workers transport soil containing rare-earth elements for export at a port in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province, China, on Oct. 31, 2010. Stringer /Reuters

The Pentagon needs to relocate the manufacturing of all critical components to the United States, War Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a Sept. 30 speech in Quantico, Virginia.

“The moment requires restoring and refocusing our defense industrial base, our shipbuilding industry, and onshoring all critical components,” Hegseth said.