President Donald Trump on Monday ordered the US Defense Department to spur the production of a slew of rare-earth magnets used in consumer electronics, military hardware and medical research, amid concerns China will restrict exports of the products.
Trump invoked the 69-year-old Defense Production Act – once used to preserve American steelmaking capacity – to remedy what he called “a shortfall” in production of the super-strong magnets made with rare-earth minerals neodymium and samarium.