Washington Launches FORGE With 54 Nations as China’s 93% Magnet Grip Spurs Supply Push
Updated
Updated · TIME · Jun 15
Washington Launches FORGE With 54 Nations as China’s 93% Magnet Grip Spurs Supply Push
3 articles · Updated · TIME · Jun 15
Summary
Washington used its first Critical Minerals Ministerial in February to launch FORGE with 54 countries and the European Commission, recasting supply-chain security as a coordinated economic and national-security effort.
China’s export controls drove the push: after tariff escalation, rare-earth magnet shipments from China fell 74% year on year, exposing dependence on a country that makes 93% of global magnets.
The US response already spans public finance and diplomacy, including a $10 billion Export-Import Bank reserve plan, Pentagon and Energy Department investments, and 27 new critical-minerals deals the White House says it closed in 12 months.
Allies and resource states are also reshaping flows—Europe picked 47 strategic projects, the US and EU are backing the Lobito Corridor, and countries from Congo to Indonesia are tightening export policies to gain leverage.
The broader shift will be slow: US mine permitting can take 10 years or more, while AI, defense and electrification are lifting demand for minerals that governments increasingly treat as strategic assets.