Signal Export controls widen and critical minerals become strategic assets as supply chains fragment

Summary

The plan observes that the spread of national-first policies is pushing the world beyond supply-chain blocs toward broad export controls on advanced technology. Critical minerals and energy resources are increasingly treated as strategic assets. It cites US controls on high-end GPUs, EUV equipment and quantum computing toward China, extended in June 2026 to the Mythos 5 AI model, and Chinese rare-earth export controls announced in April 2025 and widened in October 2025. Major economies are also diversifying supply chains and reshoring core production to raise industrial resilience. Examples include a 12 billion dollar US critical mineral stockpile called Project Vault launched in February 2026 and EU steps on dual-use export controls and a draft Industrial Accelerator Act in March 2026.