America depends too much on China for essential minerals. We need to dig our future

For decades, Americans have thought about primarily in terms of military strength — the aircraft we build, the ships we deploy and the men and women who defend our country.

Today, national security means much more, including having access to the critical materials required to not only build our military systems, but also power our data centers, manufacture advanced technologies and support the industries that underpin the American economy.

And on that front, the United States has allowed itself to become dangerously dependent on foreign nations — most notably the .

CORPORATE AMERICA'S CHINA ADDICTION HAS BECOME A NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT

We have seen the consequences of this kind of dependence before.

During the pandemic, disruptions in overseas supply chains left American hospitals scrambling for masks, gloves and other basic medical equipment produced in China, which controlled their distribution. It was a stark reminder that when a country outsources production of essential goods, it also outsources a measure of its security.

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The COVID crisis also exposed Americas larger strategic vulnerability regarding critical minerals.

Graphite is a prime example.

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Most Americans rarely think about graphite beyond being something like lead in a pencil. Yet it is an essential material in rechargeable batteries used in electric vehicles, energy storage systems and countless electronic devices. It also has applications across defense technologies, drones, advanced manufacturing and the rapidly expanding infrastructure required to support and data centers.

China has spent decades building dominant positions across critical mineral supply chains, from mining and processing to advanced materials manufacturing. More recently, Beijing has demonstrated that it is willing to restrict exports of strategically important materials as geopolitical and economic leverage. America should take that message seriously.

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No great nation should allow a strategic competitor to control the materials required to power its economy and defend itself. But despite graphites importance, the United States remains dependent on foreign sources, including China, for its supply.

What makes this situation particularly frustrating is that America does not lack natural resources, notably in the great state of Alaska.

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identified as critical to Americas economic and national security. And on Alaskas Seward Peninsula sits Graphite Creek, which could become the foundation of a fully integrated domestic graph