The Department of War announced a $450 million investment for the domestic supply of tungsten, according to a Sept. 14 announcement outlining a partnership between the Industrial Base Policy and Economic Defense Unit.
Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy Mike Cadenazzi said the investment reflects the department’s commitment to rebuilding critical industrial capacity in the United States. He said expanding this processing will strengthen resilience, support high-quality manufacturing jobs and reinforce the production base behind essential defense systems.
The announcement comes just over a month after President Trump announced a nearly $3 billion federal investment in critical mineral battery projects.
Why tungsten matters
This is a dense, high-melting-point metal used in munitions, armor-piercing ammunition, missiles and a range of other defense applications where extreme hardness and heat resistance are required. It is also widely used in industrial cutting tools and electronics.
The U.S. historically relied on domestic tungsten production, but that capacity declined significantly over the second half of the 20th century as lower-cost foreign sources, particularly from China, came to dominate the market. China currently produces the vast majority of the world’s supply and controls much of the global processing.
Rebuilding this capacity is one component of a broader effort to reduce dependence on Chinese-controlled mineral chains for defense-critical materials. The department has identified tungsten, along with rare earth elements and other critical minerals, as materials where concentration in adversarial nations represents a national security risk.
The broader minerals push
The September announcement and the August critical minerals battery investment reflect a consistent policy direction under the Trump administration to invest in at-home production of materials that the United States currently sources primarily from abroad.
The $3 billion August announcement covered a range of battery-relevant critical minerals used in energy storage and electric vehicles. This investment is specifically defense-oriented and addresses a different but related vulnerability.
The Department of War has increasingly integrated industrial base resilience into its planning, treating the ability to produce essential materials at home as a component of military readiness.
