Made in America Again: Treasury Sec. Bessent Unveils First U.S.-Made Rare Earth Magnet in 25 Years
Sec. Bessent: “We’re ending China’s chokehold on our supply chain.”
Less than a year after President Donald Trump issued executive orders to strengthen America’s critical mineral supply chains, our nation has marked a major milestone: Production of its first domestic rare-earth magnet in a quarter-century.
The achievement signals that we are making rapid progress toward reducing dependence on foreign sources (especially China) for key materials used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, and advanced defense systems. It also underscores the accelerating push to rebuild strategic manufacturing capacity that once defined U.S. industrial leadership in high-tech materials.
During a recent interview, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent held up the recently produced magnet and explained that South Carolina’s new rare earth mineral processing center is helping break China’s “chokehold” on industry.
“This is the first magnet made in the U.S. in 25 years — we’re ending China’s chokehold on our supply chain,” Bessent said at EVAC’s new rare-earth magnet processing center in Sumter.
He explained that the materials are critical components in nearly every modern product — from smartphones and cars to wind turbines, fighter jets and missile systems.
“We’re finally becoming independent again, thanks to companies like EVAC,” Bessent said.
Bessent tied the plant to broader economic revival and job creation, and he predicted a continued “lift-off” in U.S. manufacturing through 2026 and 2027.
🚨 BREAKING: Sec. Scott Bessent just personally held up the FIRST USA-made rare earth magnet in 25 years, manufactured in South Carolina
Bessent says the Trump economy is about to SURGE into 2026 🔥
“I am VERY optimistic about Q1, Q2, Q3 for growth. But we are going back to… pic.twitter.com/SKKlmGAtVi
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) November 21, 2025
Bessent credited the helpfulness of South Carolina’s governor and the removal of bureaucratic chokeholds on permitting as contributing factors in this success.
Bessent credited President Trump’s executive order on rare earths and praised South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster for helping expedite state permits, which he said were approved in just a matter of weeks.
“They started it 18 months ago. The state of South Carolina — Governor McMaster was fantastic,” Bessent said. “They said it took them eight weeks to get permits. They couldn’t believe how fast it was. And this is President Trump’s all-hands-on-deck for this national security emergency.”
The South Carolina plant, operated by e-VAC Magnetics, is producing neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) permanent magnets. The type is critical to electric vehicles, renewable energy technology, and advanced defense systems.
NdFeB magnets are prized for their exceptional magnetic strength-to-weight ratio, making them indispensable in applications where compact, high-performance magnets are required, such as in EV motors, wind turbines, and numerous types of military equipment. The good news is that the facility has the capacity to scale up rapidly.
The facility’s expansion potential suggests scalability ambitions that could significantly impact domestic production capacity. Project developers indicate potential for expansion six to ten times larger than current baseline capacity, though specific tonnage projections remain undisclosed in publicly available documentation.
…Geopolitical risks associated with concentrated supply chains became increasingly apparent during trade tensions and global supply disruptions. Critical industries discovered their vulnerability to supply chain interruptions that could impact production schedules, project timelines, and national security capabilities.
The South Carolina rare earth magnet facility addresses these vulnerabilities through domestic production capacity, though complete supply chain independence requires additional infrastructure development across multiple processing stages.
In conclusion, South Carolina’s first homegrown rare-earth magnet isn’t just a manufacturing win; it’s the first clear sign of a tectonic shift in how this nation will protect and reinforce our supply chains in ways that will ultimately make this country stronger, safer, and more prosperous.
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
Sumter is not far from me, and I am pleased to see SC industry growing. I’m sure they are a supplier to the Scout Motors plant currently being erected in Blythewood, just north of Columbia.
Wry good news
We have to break the. Ack of China as it’s stealing of our science and enslaving it’s peoples is a testament to the superiority of freedom and capitalism
Wry,
Like I’m Asian
Wry this is important.
It would be good with white and black scotties atop each.
Sure, but it cost a trillion dollars.
The first one costs $50 million dollars. After that they are 25 cents a piece.
Processing rare earths is actually easy – just labor and time consuming, and a lot of environmental issues to worry about. It’s why the Chinese excelled – technologically it was easy, the hard part was building out the infrastructure.
The next step is to start mining the rare earths here in the U.S. Mountain Pass California and the Brook Mine in Wyoming. Both should be up and running within the year. Book mine is actually extracting the rare earths from coal.