The Trump administration has launched a series of measures to ensure that US defense contractors source critical minerals domestically or from allied nations, building a supply chain that officials hope would break China’s monopoly over materials such as scandium and tungsten. Since July, US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order restricting the use of adversary-sourced defense materials, blocked exports of tungsten and battery waste and pledged more than US$2 billion for domestic mineral production – including US$400 million toward an Australian mine developing the world’s first primary scandium deposit.