Apple Strikes $500M Deal With U.S. Rare Earth Company as Trump Admin Slashes China Dependence
Apple has agreed to a landmark $500 million deal to purchase rare earth magnets from American company MP Materials, a major step toward restoring U.S. industrial capacity and breaking free from China’s grip on critical mineral supplies.
The tech giant announced Tuesday that it will source rare earth magnets from MP Materials’ facility in Fort Worth, Texas, for use in iPhones, microphones, speakers, and other Apple products. Magnet shipments are expected to begin in 2027 and scale up to supply “hundreds of millions” of devices.
“We are proud to partner with Apple to launch MP’s recycling platform and scale up our magnetics business,” said MP Materials CEO James Litinsky. “This collaboration deepens our vertical integration, strengthens supply chain resilience, and reinforces America’s industrial capacity at a pivotal moment.”
The deal sent MP Materials’ stock soaring 28% on Tuesday, hitting an all-time high above $62 per share.
The announcement comes on the heels of a major move by the Department of Defense, which recently became MP Materials’ largest shareholder after purchasing $400 million in preferred stock. That investment will help fund the development of a second domestic magnet manufacturing facility to support both commercial and military demand.
This growing industrial push aligns directly with President Donald Trump’s efforts to restore American dominance in rare earth mining and processing. China currently controls around 60% of global rare earth mining and nearly 90% of global refining, creating a dangerous dependency for the West.
Trump has made rare earth independence a top priority in his second term, stating early on that he wants the U.S. to become “the leading producer and processor of non-fuel minerals, including rare earth minerals.”
MP Materials already operates the only active rare earth mine in the country—Mountain Pass, located in California near the Nevada border. But the industry is now expanding rapidly under Trump’s leadership. Just last week, the administration celebrated the grand opening of the second U.S. rare earth mine, located in Wyoming. That site, operated by Ramaco Resources, will extract rare earths directly from coal seams—a first-of-its-kind initiative.
The Apple-MP Materials partnership marks a clear win for U.S. economic security, national defense readiness, and the Trump administration’s America First energy and manufacturing strategy. It sends a strong message to Beijing: the days of U.S. reliance on Communist China for critical materials are coming to an end.