Securing access to critical minerals is only one part of building a secure domestic supply chain. Without sufficient processing and refining infrastructure, the U.S. remains dependent on foreign countries to transform raw materials into the products required by American manufacturers.

FORTRESS America is another indication that supply-chain resilience is becoming inseparable from national security.

Westwin is evaluating potential future feedstocks as it works to expand domestic refining capacity. The question for each source is how it could be processed to meet customers’ needs.

Ford directly called on high-purity nickel, questioning “what would they do without the high-grade nickel that we ship down to the U.S.?”

The House Armed Services committee’s framework warns that the decline of the defense industrial base has weakened both readiness and deterrence. Its answer is clear: American industry must be able to produce for the warfighter at speed and scale.

Keeping critical minerals in America is an important first step. Turning them into the finished materials our economy and national defense depend on is how we build lasting supply chain resilience and create strong American jobs along the way.