In a recent The Hill opinion piece, Michael Sobolik makes a sobering case: America’s dependence on China for rare earth minerals is a direct threat to national security. With 85% of global rare earth processing controlled by Beijing, and nearly 80% of U.S. defense systems relying on these minerals, the time for half-measures is over.
At M2i Global, this is more than a headline; it is our operating thesis.
Four key areas that Sobolik highlights:
1. Building a Competitive Supply Chain That Plays by the Right Rules
Sobolik writes, “China doesn’t play by market rules, and we cannot afford to let American producers lose in an unfair global fight.”
At M2i, we’re flipping the script. Our traceability infrastructure, paired with shovel-ready facilities across the U.S., is designed to deliver not just minerals but trust, compliance, and national resilience.
We don’t just trade commodities. We build throughput systems that qualify, QA, trace, and deliver critical materials with batch-level accountability.
2. Onshoring Refining and Rebuilding What We Lost
Sobolik highlights the collapse of Mountain Pass, and later Molycorp, as a pivotal moment in America’s supply chain decline. He also notes that U.S. policies to both remove Chinese rare earths from defense systems by 2027, and the strategy of price floor guarantees, both represent real momentum.
M2i Global’s projects are ready to deploy. And with strategic leadership from figures like Peter O’Rourke Sr. (featured on the premiere episode of The Minerals & Metals Initiative podcast), we’re leveraging public-private partnership models that finally align operational velocity with federal priorities.
Listen to our latest podcast with our CEO Alberto Rosende and Peter O’Rourke Sr. to hear how veteran-led strategy, onshoring, and smart procurement can move us from dependency to industrial sovereignty.
3. Clean Tech Can’t Be Built on Dirty Foundations
The future of EVs, batteries, and solar technology demands a secure, ethical mineral backbone. Sobolik notes: “The final puzzle piece is bolstering U.S. manufacturing of final products that rely on critical minerals, especially clean energy technology.”
M2i is answering that call through its strategic partnership with Regenerate Technology Global, bringing advanced battery and cathode systems to market using domestic, DV-certified inputs. Together, we are building the infrastructure innovation requires.
4. An Imperative: Partnering Against Forced Labor
Sobolik makes a crucial ethical observation: China’s vertically integrated dominance in clean tech is made possible, in part, by forced labor in Xinjiang.
At M2i Global, our partnership with Not For Sale, the global anti-forced labor organization, is not window dressing, it’s core infrastructure. Together, we are building policies, auditing protocol, and safeguards to ensure the critical materials economy uplifts American workers and refuses complicity in exploitative supply chains.
America Doesn’t Just Need Rare Earths, It Needs a Rare Kind of Leadership
As this moment of geopolitical and industrial transformation unfolds, M2i Global is ready. Ready to onshore. Ready to scale. Ready to prove that American materials can be positive, traceable, and unbreakably sovereign.
The world’s supply chain of minerals and metals is being rebuilt. We choose to build it here.