Made Almost in America
The midstream gaps in American industry — domestic inputs, foreign processing
Critical minerals & refining11 items
Rare earth separation
The gapMountain Pass (CA) produces concentrate, but the chemical separation step has historically happened in China. MP Materials and DOE-backed projects are onshoring separation now.
Depends onChina for separated oxides.
End usesPermanent magnets, defense systems, EV motors, wind turbines.
Antimony
The gapNo domestic mining since 1997; no smelting capacity. Perpetua Resources is restarting Idaho's WWII-era Stibnite mine with DoD backing.
Depends onChina primarily, plus Russia and Tajikistan.
End usesAmmunition primers, lead-acid batteries, flame retardants. China's 2024 export controls spiked prices overnight.
Titanium sponge
The gapLast U.S. producer (Timet Henderson) closed in 2020. The country has ore deposits, rolling mills, and Boeing — but no sponge step.
Depends onJapan, Kazakhstan, historically Russia's VSMPO.
End usesAerospace structures, defense platforms.
Tungsten
The gapThe U.S. has known deposits and a long mining history, but essentially no primary tungsten production today. The processing economics moved offshore decades ago.
Depends onChina dominates global supply; smaller amounts from Vietnam and Russia.
End usesCarbide cutting tools, armor-piercing ammunition, aerospace alloys, lighting filaments.
Gallium
The gapA pure byproduct economy. Gallium can be recovered from aluminum and zinc refining streams, but domestic operations don't bother capturing it. China's 2023 export controls made the dependence visible.
Depends onChina processes the overwhelming majority of global supply.
End usesGallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors, radar, 5G base stations, LEDs.
Germanium
The gapSame byproduct story as gallium — recovered from zinc refining residues, but domestic zinc operations don't capture it. Caught up in China's 2023 export controls alongside gallium.
Depends onChina; smaller volumes from Russia and Belgium.
End usesFiber optic glass, infrared optics for thermal imaging, satellite solar cells.
Magnesium
The gapA single primary domestic producer (US Magnesium in Utah). Demand outstrips capacity by a wide margin and most consumption is import-dependent.
Depends onChina dominates global magnesium production.
End usesAluminum alloying for cans and vehicles, magnesium die casting for automotive lightweighting.
Tin
The gapNo primary tin production for decades. Some recycling capacity, but nothing close to demand.
Depends onIndonesia, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil.
End usesLead-free solder for electronics, tinplate for food cans, chemical applications.
Tantalum capacitor powder
The gapEssentially no primary tantalum production despite being a major end-consumer. Ore mined in Central Africa, Australia, Brazil; refining and powder production overseas.
Depends onGermany, Japan, China.
End usesSmartphone and electronics capacitors.
Primary aluminum smelting
The gapPrimary smelter capacity collapsed under energy costs. The back end of the industry — rolling, fabrication — still runs domestically.
Depends onCanada, Middle East for primary ingot.
End usesCans, vehicles, construction, aerospace.
Acid-grade fluorspar
The gapReserves exist but mining stopped decades ago.
Depends onMexico, China.
End usesFeedstock for hydrofluoric acid → refrigerants, semiconductor etchants, fluoropolymers, pharma synthesis.
Battery & EV supply chain4 items
Lithium refining
The gapMining capacity is growing (Nevada, North Carolina), but battery-grade chemical conversion is concentrated abroad.
Depends onChina for lithium hydroxide and carbonate refining.
End usesEV batteries, grid storage.
Synthetic graphite anode material
The gapSpheronization and coating concentrated in China even when raw graphite is sourced elsewhere. IRA provisions are pushing onshoring.
Depends onChina.
End usesLithium-ion battery anodes in EVs and storage.
Manganese sulfate (battery grade)
The gapNo domestic ore production; minimal high-purity processing for the form cathodes need.
Depends onSouth Africa, Gabon, Australia for ore; China for refining.
End usesEV cathodes; steel additive across the broader market.
NdFeB permanent magnets
The gapEven when rare earth oxides are separated outside China, the alloying, sintering, and machining steps are overwhelmingly Chinese. MP Materials' Fort Worth plant is one of the first onshore attempts.
Depends onChina.
End usesEV traction motors, wind turbines, defense actuators.
Energy & nuclear2 items
Heavy/sour crude refining
The gapU.S. shale produces light sweet crude; Gulf Coast refineries were built for heavy sour. The country is a net oil exporter that still imports heavy crude as refinery feedstock.
Depends onCanada, Mexico, formerly Venezuela.
End usesDiesel, jet fuel, asphalt — heavy products tied to heavy crude.
HALEU enrichment
The gapStandard low-enriched uranium is covered, but no commercial-scale high-assay low-enriched uranium for advanced reactors.
Depends onRussia (TENEX) historically; Centrus is ramping with government backing.
End usesNext-gen reactors — TerraPower, X-energy, others.
Semiconductors & grid5 items
High-purity quartz crucibles
The gapSpruce Pine, North Carolina has the world's purest quartz, but the crucibles themselves are made overseas. The U.S. exports the rock and imports the consumable.
Depends onGermany, Japan, China.
End usesGrowing silicon ingots that become semiconductor wafers.
Neon gas
The gapA byproduct of steel-mill air separation, but recovery and purification infrastructure was never built domestically. U.S. air-separation operators could produce it.
Depends onUkraine was the dominant supplier; supply scrambled after 2022.
End usesExcimer lasers in semiconductor lithography.
Helium
The gapThe U.S. went from dominant global producer (Texas Panhandle reserves) to a structural importer as the Federal Helium Reserve wound down without replacement infrastructure. Recoverable helium fields remain.
Depends onQatar, Algeria, Russia, with some surviving North American production.
End usesMRI cryogenics, semiconductor fabrication, fiber optic production, scientific research.
Indium
The gapAnother byproduct of zinc refining. Some domestic recovery, but most refined indium is imported. Almost invisible in industrial policy debates relative to its strategic role.
Depends onChina, South Korea, Japan.
End usesIndium tin oxide (ITO) — the transparent conductor in every flat screen, touchscreen, and thin-film solar panel.
Grain-oriented electrical steel
The gapCleveland-Cliffs' Butler Works in Pennsylvania is essentially the lone domestic producer; most utility demand is imported despite the U.S. being a major steelmaker.
Depends onImports from multiple international suppliers.
End usesTransformer cores throughout the electrical grid.
Agriculture & animal products7 items
Lean ground beef trim
The gapDomestic cattle skew toward marbled, fattier cuts. Lean trim is needed to blend with domestic 50/50 fat for retail ground beef.
Depends onAustralia, New Zealand, Brazil, sometimes Argentina.
End usesRetail ground beef blends across most U.S. grocery channels.
Softwood dimensional lumber
The gapDomestic softwood is grown in volume but sawmill capacity is short of housing demand. A species and milling capacity issue rather than a forestry one.
Depends onCanadian mills, especially in British Columbia.
End usesResidential framing and construction.
Seafood processing
The gapFilleting and processing infrastructure has hollowed out. Alaska pollock and other U.S.-caught species get sent abroad for processing and re-imported.
Depends onChina primarily.
End usesFrozen and prepared seafood — same fish, missing middle step.
Farmed catfish
The gapMississippi-belt catfish farming is established, but imported pangasius (sold as basa or swai) captured the volume market. Domestic acreage has contracted sharply over two decades.
Depends onVietnam primarily.
End usesFrozen fillets, restaurant supply, food service.
Apple juice concentrate
The gapThe U.S. is among the world's largest apple producers, but most apple juice concentrate consumed here is imported. Domestic concentrate facilities couldn't compete on cost.
Depends onChina dominates global concentrate production.
End usesJuice products, beverages, baby food, food ingredients.
Wool scouring & combing
The gapNear-perfect parallel to the beef story. Domestic wool-processing infrastructure has been largely dismantled.
Depends onChina.
End usesRanchers ship raw fleece overseas; some returns as finished textile.
Finished leather from cattle hides
The gapThe U.S. is among the world's largest hide producers but exports salted hides and imports finished leather.
Depends onItalian and other European tanneries.
End usesAutomotive interiors, luxury goods.
Pharma, chemicals & advanced materials5 items
Pharmaceutical APIs
The gapThe chemical industry is here for synthesis, but active pharmaceutical ingredient production sits offshore. Finished-dose manufacturing often happens domestically.
Depends onIndia, China.
End usesMost generics, antibiotics, common prescriptions.
Iodine
The gapSmall Oklahoma brine production despite similar untapped brine resources elsewhere.
Depends onChile (caliche deposits), Japan (natural gas brine).
End usesX-ray contrast media, LCD polarizers, animal feed, pharmaceuticals.
Bismuth
The gapNo domestic mining; almost entirely a byproduct of lead and copper refining done elsewhere.
Depends onChina, plus Mexico, Japan, Korea.
End usesActive ingredient in Pepto-Bismol (bismuth subsalicylate), lead-free solders, low-melting alloys, cosmetics.
Furfural & furfuryl alcohol
The gapMade from agricultural residues — corn cobs, sugarcane bagasse, oat hulls. The U.S. has the feedstock in massive abundance but stopped manufacturing furfural at industrial scale decades ago.
Depends onChina dominates global supply.
End usesFoundry resins, refractory binders, specialty solvents, petroleum refining.
High-modulus carbon fiber
The gapHexcel and others produce plenty of industrial-grade fiber, but the highest-modulus pitch-based fibers for aerospace and defense are concentrated in Japan.
Depends onToray and Mitsubishi.
End usesAerospace structures including 787 composite wings, defense applications.