Lockheed Martin invitation next week - and Industry efforts to develop substitute magnets and new technologies?
- What additional support does the nascent U.S. and friendly nation rare earth element industry need to grow and thrive in the long-term?
Additional Information
Recently proposed Defense Acquisition Regulation Supplemental (DFARS) sourcing requirements (DFARS Case 2021-D015) have set a deadline of January 1st, 2026 for the entire DIB REE magnet supply chains, from mining to magnet production, to be produced outside of the covered countries of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC), the Russian Federation, the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea, and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Additionally, Section 857 of James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23 NDAA) (Public Law 117-263, signed December 23, 2022) contains provisions requiring disclosure by defense contractors of the sources of supply for rare earth elements (REE) and strategic and critical materials (SCM) within permanent magnets used in defense systems. These provenance sourcing requirements will go into effect as early as June 23, 2025. As the Department of Defense[1], Department of Commerce[2], and Department of Energy[3] and other government agencies have previously written, the PRC is the dominate global producer for all-tiers off the REE magnet supply chain. Therefore, the DIB migrating to REE supply chains entirely separate from the PRC is less than straightforward.