China’s Battery Monopoly: A National Security Threat

China isn’t just winning the global battery race—it’s rigging the game. A new report from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies lays bare an alarming truth: the Chinese Communist Party controls more than 80% of the critical materials required for advanced batteries—the very lifeblood of modern defense technology. This isn’t about electric cars or green energy anymore. This is about warfighting capability, national security, and America’s ability to defend itself in the 21st century.

Let’s stop pretending this is just an economic issue. This is a national emergency. Batteries now power everything from military drones and radios to submarines and directed-energy weapons. As the report bluntly states, “batteries will be one of the bullets of future wars.” China knows it—and they’ve spent decades building a monopoly while America slept.

While we were bogged down in environmental red tape and bureaucratic permitting delays, Beijing was using every tool in the communist playbook. State subsidies, forced intellectual property transfers, predatory pricing, and outright economic coercion—China pulled no punches. The result? They now process 85% of the world’s graphite, 85% of anodes, 70% of cathodes, and a jaw-dropping 97% of anode active materials. Think about that. If the U.S. military needs to build a next-gen drone, a hypersonic missile, or a high-energy laser weapon, odds are we’re relying on Chinese materials to do it.

This is not just a problem—it’s a vulnerability. And China is already exploiting it. Since 2023, Beijing has been tightening its grip by restricting exports of key materials like graphite, gallium, and rare earths—shutting the tap whenever it suits their strategic interests. These export controls are not market-driven—they’re geopolitical weapons. The Chinese Communist Party is sending a clear message: they control the supply chain, and they’re not afraid to use it.

Meanwhile, American mining and refining projects are being strangled by bureaucracy. According to the report, permitting obstacles account for 40% of all delays in getting critical mineral projects off the ground. That’s not just inefficiency—that’s national self-sabotage. While China builds, we regulate. While they dominate, we deliberate.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Under President Trump, the tide is finally beginning to turn. The administration has launched new initiatives to fast-track domestic mining and processing, offer tax incentives, and cut red tape. Projects in North and South Carolina are beginning to tap into domestic lithium reserves. And with the U.S. lithium market projected to grow 500% over the next five years, we have a chance to claw our way out of this hole—but only if we act decisively.

The report also highlights the importance of ally-shoring—working with trusted partners to secure reliable supply chains outside of China’s reach. Past efforts in places like Greenland, Ukraine, and the Democratic Republic of Congo show this strategy can work. But it’s going to take leadership—strong, unapologetic, America-first leadership—to make it happen.

“Despite China’s control of the battery supply chain, this is a time of great vulnerability for Beijing, while the United States and its core allies remain strong,” the report concludes. That’s true—but strength means nothing without will. We must be willing to confront China’s economic warfare with what the report calls “muscular statecraft.” That means building out domestic capacity, dismantling regulatory roadblocks, and forging ironclad partnerships to break Beijing’s chokehold.

This is not a time for half-measures. We can’t outsource our national security to a hostile regime that routinely threatens Taiwan, hacks our infrastructure, and steals our technology. It’s time to unplug from Beijing’s battery trap and build a supply chain that puts American power—and American freedom—first.

The next war won’t be fought just with bullets and bombs. It will be fought with batteries. Let’s make sure they’re made in America.