Rep. John Moolenaar says Americaโs dependence on China for tungsten โposes a significant riskโ to the United Statesโ industrial base and warfighting readiness.
Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) has sent a letter to Canada-based mining company Almonty Industries to inquire about a critical metal essential for U.S. defense technology that the United States relies on China to obtain.
Moolenaar, chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), announced on June 2 that he had sent a letter to Almontyโs chairman, Lewis Black, over the companyโs Sangdong tungsten mine in South Korea.
Tungsten is unique for its exceptionally high resistance to heat, thanks to it having the highest melting point of all known metals. Tungsten is exceptional in terms of hardness, especially in its compound form, tungsten carbide, which is nearly as hard as diamond. As a result, it is used in both military and aerospace systems, such as armor-piercing projectiles, missile nozzles, and hypersonic vehicles, as well as semiconductors and electric vehicle batteries.
Despite its importance, tungsten has not been produced commercially in the United States since 2015, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The agency noted that China produced over 82 percent of the global tungsten supply in 2024.
The USGS has designated tungsten as one of 50 critical minerals that are vital to the U.S. national security.
The United States โremains heavily import-dependentโ for tungsten, notably buying from โsources tied toโ China, Moolenaar wrote.
โThis dependency poses a significant risk to our defense industrial base and warfighting readiness,โ Moolenaar added. โAs a result, ensuring a secure tungsten supply chain must in the near-term prioritize securing allied sources of tungsten ore and concentrates.โ
Moolenaar cited Almontyโs announcement in January, in which the company said it intended to redomicile from Canada to the United States. โIf completed, this move would position Almonty as a primary U.S.-based producer of tungsten ore and concentrates,โ the lawmaker wrote.
In the January announcement, Black, Almontyโs chairman, pointed to Chinaโs export restrictions on certain metals and was quoted as saying that โAlmonty and its South Korean Sangdong Mine are poised to become a cornerstone for a transparent and reliable Western source of tungsten and molybdenum.โ
Almontyโs announcement also said that 45 percent of Sangdongโs โpotential long-term tungsten output is already committed to the United Statesโ through agreements with Pennsylvania-based Global Tungsten & Powders.
Byย Frank Fang