• During a Wednesday House Armed Services Committee hearing, members of Congress and defense experts warned that the United States’ reliance on Chinese critical mineral processing undermines defense companies’ capabilities to produce weaponry for the Pentagon.
• According to reports, the defense industrial base that creates weapons and military equipment for the U.S. Department of Defense (D.O.D) struggled to overcome growing supply chain setbacks during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to lawmakers on the committee, this comes as China is rapidly modernizing its military forces and dominating critical supply chains that American defense industries rely on to meet the Pentagon’s demands.

Tagged: China