RE:RE:US military and rare earths The prospective sanctions could target a number of private companies that have contracts to serve the U.S. defense sector.…But the sanctions could target firms through the country's "national technological security management list" — the Chinese version of an export control list that Beijing established on June 8 during the height of the countries' trade standoff. Essentially, the list allows China to restrict the export of key components and technologies — potentially rare earths…— on "national security" grounds…Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Shuang Geng’s announcement raises the real prospect that China could use sanctions to restrict the access of some U.S. defense firms to rare earth elements, which are vital to the politically important defense and military sector…
However, even if Beijing tries to limit its measures to a few firms, interlinkages in the defense industry mean the sanctions could effectively ban rare earth transfers to the U.S. defense sector as a whole.
Moreover, many U.S. defense companies, especially major firms like Raytheon, have strong links with the wider international defense sector, meaning the sanctions could also ensnare defense firms from other countries. The main gun on the Abrams tank, for instance, is of German origin.
https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/china-us-beijing-takes-aim-us-defense-firms-over-taiwan