Protecting US Critical Minerals Supply Chains

President Donald Trump is making good on his promise to protect America’s vulnerable critical minerals supply chains.

The Department of Defense Office of Strategic Capital, or OSC, announced the recent execution of its first direct loan to strengthen the U.S. industrial base and its critical minerals supply chains.

As part of a wider July 2025 agreement between the Defense Department and MP Materials, owner and operator of a U.S. rare earths mine, OSC provided a $150 million loan to add heavy rare earth separation capabilities to MP Materials' existing processing facility in Mountain Pass, California.

"I applaud the Office of Strategic Capital on this incredible milestone, and I am extremely proud of the focused, unified effort and support from Secretary Hegseth and Deputy Secretary Feinberg to make this agreement happen," said the Emil Michael, Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering.

"Through this loan, we are taking decisive action to restore our domestic critical minerals supply chain, revive our industrial base, and rebuild our military to achieve President Trump's goal of peace through strength."

The funding for OSC's $150 million loan to MP Materials comes from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Trump signed into law on July 4. The bill provides OSC with $500 million of credit subsidy funding, creating up to $100 billion in available loan funds specifically for critical minerals production and related industries and projects.

"The Chinese Communist Party has implemented aggressive actions to endanger the global critical minerals supply chain and ultimately undermine American economic and national security," said Patrick Witt, Acting Director of OSC. "Since his first term in office, and for decades prior to that as a private citizen, President Trump has been clear that economic security is national security. To that end, the President directed the [Defense Department] to use its authorities and capital tools to confront the threat posed by the CCP. This loan is part of the Department's answer to that call and demonstrates our commitment to defeat adversarial attempts at economic coercion and ensure the unmatched superiority of our industrial base and Armed Forces."

In his March 20 Executive Order, “Measures to Increase American Mineral Production,” President Trump noted, “Our national and economic security are now acutely threatened by our reliance upon hostile foreign powers’ mineral production. It is imperative for our national security that the United States take immediate action to facilitate domestic mineral production to the maximum possible extent.”

The U.S. is taking those actions now.