(The Epoch Times)—The Pentagon needs to relocate the manufacturing of all critical components to the United States. That’s what Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said in a Sept. 30 speech in Quantico, Virginia.
“The moment requires restoring and refocusing our defense industrial base, our shipbuilding industry, and onshoring all critical components,” said Hegseth.
Rebuilding what Hegseth calls the “arsenal of freedom” comes hand-in-hand with ensuring the United States’ industrial base is no longer reliant on China, other hostile actors, and vulnerable supply chains.
‘Deterrence Fails When Delivery Slips’
“Deterrence fails when delivery slips,” Steve Aberle, CEO of Rohirrim, a Washington-based company that makes procurement software for the aerospace and defense industry, told The Epoch Times. “What we intend to do is make delivery the default for America and its allies.”
“War starts when gaps appear, so we close those gaps via acquisition before they matter, so no adversary should wake up to an advantage,” Aberle said.
The present situation has come as a direct result of the rise of Chinese manufacturing, which saw its global share grow from 9 percent to 23 percent between 2004 and 2023. Meanwhile, fewer and fewer products are made in the United States.
A case in point would be Magnequench, a company founded by General Motors (GM) in 1986 to manufacture neodymium-iron-boron magnets used in precision-guided munitions, mainly for the Pentagon.
In 1995, GM sold Magnequench for $56 million to a consortium backed by Chinese investors, who later closed down two magnet manufacturing plants in Indiana.
As a result, “America now cannot build a single guided missile without permission from Beijing,” Michael Dunne wrote in a June 2025 report in The Dunne Insights Newsletter. “America’s defense industrial base had been hollowed out for $56 million: the cost of a single F-35 fighter jet.”
On Feb. 24, 2021, President Joe Biden signed Executive Order 14017, which ordered the Department of Defense and other branches of government to review critical supply chains.
Biden said at the time, “The United States needs resilient, diverse, and secure supply chains to ensure our economic prosperity and national security.”
The Manufacturing Capability Expansion & Investment Prioritization (MCEIP) program, which seeks to address “vulnerabilities” in the supply chain of the U.S. industrial base, was launched, and in April 2023, it awarded contracts to “strengthen supply chains for hypersonic and strategic systems.”
In February 2024, the U.S. Department of Defense handed out seven contracts worth $192.5 million to restore manufacturing of certain critical chemicals within the United States.
As a result, hundreds of new jobs are being created in Colorado, Louisiana, Ohio, Oregon, and California.
For example, METSS Corporation—based in Westerville, Ohio—was given a $14 million contract to produce various chemicals, including potassium sulfate, which is used as a muzzle flash suppressant in artillery and firearms.
“Our objective is simple: transform the entire acquisition system to operate on a wartime footing,” Hegseth said in a speech on Nov. 7, “To rapidly accelerate the fielding of capabilities and focus on results, our objective is to build, rebuild the arsenal of freedom.”
Acquisition Transformation Strategy
He also unveiled a new acquisition transformation strategy, which will put the industrial base on a wartime footing and “transition from a culture of compliance to one of speed and execution.”
Hegseth’s speeches do not “come out of nowhere,” said Aberle, who said reforming the acquisition strategy had been a key priority of the incoming Trump administration.
Aberle said the importance of correctly sourcing technology, weapons, and services had been clear from the moment Trump returned to the White House for his second term in January.
“Even on the first day there was White House guidance on how each individual agency should approach acquisition,” Aberle said.
On Jan. 23, Trump said he wanted the United States to have a “level playing field” with China on trade.
Beijing had gained its trade advantages by not playing fair with the West, Iain Duncan Smith, a British member of Parliament and former leader of the Conservative Party, told The Epoch Times.
“China has disobeyed every World Trade Organization rule on fair trade,” Duncan Smith said, and pointed out they had deliberately chosen not to become a full member of the WTO, which meant they had been given the status of a “developing country.”
In September, Chinese leader Xi Jinping announced Beijing would no longer seek the special treatment accorded to developing countries.
Bending WTO Rules
Duncan Smith said China had been allowed to “bend the rules” and that had led to them becoming dominant in a whole series of markets.
“They trash the WTO rules about free markets, they subsidize huge amounts of money into businesses that they think might not succeed. … China has broken the investment rules, it’s broken slave labor rules, and they’re using forced labor,” Duncan Smith said.
He said that as a result, they produce a huge range of products much cheaper than the West, driving competitors in the United States and Europe out of business.
Keith Norman, chief marketing officer with California-based Lyten, told The Epoch Times that globalization was not entirely a bad strategy and still “made sense” for some of the most profitable companies in the United States and Europe, like Apple and Nvidia.
He said the formula of outsourcing manufacturing to China and other low-cost countries was “generating enormous economic benefit” for the United States and Europe.
Geopolitical Risk Poses ‘Challenge’
“Where that starts to become a challenge when you move into a period where there’s more geopolitical risk,” Norman said.
Norman said when products—such as chips, batteries, solar panels, and wind turbines—are critical to energy security and national security, that is when the risk starts to ramp up.
The issue was thrown into stark relief on Nov. 5, when Dutch chipmaker Nexperia gave a statement saying that it can no longer guarantee the quality or authenticity of chips made at its Chinese facilities, saying its subsidiaries in China have disregarded management directives.
Lyten, a Silicon Valley startup, said on Aug. 7 that it had entered a binding agreement to acquire bankrupt Scandinavian electric vehicle (EV) battery maker Northvolt’s plants in Sweden and Germany—to add to a site in Poland they had already acquired—to expand its lithium-sulfur battery technology into Europe.
“We are building a battery which is a lighter weight than lithium-ion, that is also sourced with industrial by-product from the U.S. and Europe, and so we’re able to entirely eliminate supply chain through China, and at the same time actually deliver better performing batteries,” Norman said.
On April 26, 2021, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Rep. David McKinley (R-W.Va.) led a bipartisan group of lawmakers who called on the Biden administration to establish a “rare-earth metallurgical cooperative” to reduce the nation’s reliance on Beijing for the specialized minerals used to build electronics and military weapons.
Little was done until the advent of the second Trump administration.
On April 4, the Chinese communist regime imposed export controls on certain rare earth elements, which Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said were “within weeks” of closing down U.S. plants manufacturing everything from cars to fighter jets.
On Oct. 9, 2025, Beijing expanded these export controls.
Trump met Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Oct. 30, and agreed to drop some tariffs in exchange for Beijing resuming exports of rare earths, such as holmium, erbium, thulium, europium, and ytterbium.
He also said he would visit China in April 2026.
A few days later, on Nov. 5, the Chinese navy unveiled its latest aircraft carrier, the Fujian, as it looks to flex its military muscles in the Pacific.
In a Nov. 2 interview on CBS’s “60 Minutes,” Trump said the United States would end its dependence on China for rare-earth minerals within 18 months under an “emergency program” to build domestic and allied supply chains, describing the initiative as a key national security priority following Beijing’s recent export restrictions.
On Oct. 21, when Northrop Grumman reported its earnings for the third quarter of 2025, its CEO, Kathy Warden, commented on the supply chain issue.
“Fortunately, our team has the two foundries in the United States where we design, produce, and package microelectronics. So our dependency there on rare earths has been mitigated by looking through our supply chain and getting well ahead of our sources of supply to ensure that we can produce those electronics,” Warden said.
“We are very pleased that the U.S. government is actively working to set up additional sources of supply, including in the U.S., and working partnerships with our allies for them to also invest in these capabilities in their country,” Warden said.
Risk mitigation is going to be a priority for the United States going forward, Aberle said.
China expert Cheryl Yu testified before the Wisconsin Legislature on Oct. 21, warning that several Chinese-owned industrial and agricultural properties in Wisconsin have ties to the United Front Work Department, a branch of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The Epoch Times reached out, through the Department of War, to get a response from John Shultz, of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for War for Industrial Base Policy, regarding MCEIP. It has not received a response.
Why Bullion Beats Numismatics and Collectible for Your Safe or IRA
Precious metals continue to attract Americans seeking reliable ways to protect their wealth amid inflation, geopolitical risks, and stock market swings. Whether stored in a home safe or held inside a self-directed IRA, physical gold and silver deliver tangible value that paper or digital assets often lack. Yet investors must choose carefully between bullion—pure bars and coins valued mainly for their metal content—and numismatics or collectibles, where rarity, history, and collector demand heavily influence pricing.
Advisor Bullion serves as a dependable source for straightforward, high-quality bullion. The company specializes in physical gold, silver, platinum, and palladium, emphasizing transparent pricing and products that deliver maximum metal content for every dollar spent. This approach makes it ideal for both personal holdings and retirement accounts.
Bullion consists of refined precious metals in standard forms like one-ounce coins (American Gold Eagles, Silver Eagles, Canadian Maple Leafs) or bars. Their value tracks closely to the current spot price of the metal. A typical gold bullion coin trades near the live gold spot price plus a small premium. This structure keeps costs clear and predictable.
Numismatic coins and collectibles add substantial value from factors such as age, rarity, minting errors, or historical significance. A pre-1933 U.S. gold coin or graded proof piece can carry premiums of 30%, 50%, or even 200% above melt value. While this appeals to hobbyists, it creates complexity. Pricing depends on subjective grading, collector trends, and auction results instead of daily spot prices.
For investors focused on wealth preservation and retirement security rather than building a collection, bullion often delivers better results.
Lower Costs and Better Liquidity for Home Storage
When keeping metals in a home safe or private vault, liquidity and efficiency count. Bullion offers clear benefits:
- You acquire more actual gold or silver per dollar invested. Numismatics divert a large share of your money into rarity premiums and massive sales commission, reducing your metal exposure.
- Selling bullion involves tight bid-ask spreads, so you recover nearly full spot value with minimal fees. Collectibles require finding the right buyer and may sell at a discount if demand for that specific item weakens.
- Bullion prices remain transparent and update with global spot markets. You can track gold near current levels or silver accordingly and know exactly where your holdings stand. Numismatic values are priced by the Gold IRA companies with hefty margins applied.
- Standardized coins and bars store efficiently and divide easily for partial sales. Rare coins often need protective slabs and controlled conditions, adding hassle and expense.
- Bullion enjoys worldwide acceptance. A 1-oz Gold Maple Leaf or Silver Eagle sells quickly to dealers anywhere. Niche numismatic pieces may appeal only to limited buyers, slowing liquidation when speed matters.
In times when quick access to value becomes important, bullion’s simplicity stands out.
Stronger Fit for Precious Metals IRAs
Precious metals IRAs continue gaining traction as investors diversify retirement portfolios beyond stocks and bonds. IRS rules permit certain bullion products in self-directed IRAs if they meet purity standards (.995 fine for gold, .999 for silver) and are held by an approved custodian. Eligible items include American Gold and Silver Eagles plus many generic bars and rounds from recognized mints.
Numismatic and most collectible coins generally face heavy scrutiny from custodians due to valuation disputes and elevated markups. These higher premiums mean less actual metal ends up working inside the account.
Bullion avoids these issues. Its value links directly to verifiable spot prices, which simplifies reporting and lowers the risk of regulatory challenges. More of your IRA contribution purchases real metal instead of dealer profits or speculative upside. Over time, owning additional ounces that appreciate with the metal itself can create meaningful outperformance compared with high-premium alternatives that deliver fewer ounces.
Regulatory guidance from the CFTC and state securities offices repeatedly cautions against aggressive sales of expensive numismatics or “semi-numismatic” coins for IRAs. For retirement planning, transparent bullion from established providers reduces risk and aligns better with long-term goals.
How to Get Started with Bullion
Begin by clarifying your goals. Are you protecting savings in a safe, or moving part of a retirement account into a precious metals IRA? Focus on the number of ounces you can acquire at current prices rather than chasing marked-up collectibles.
Diversify sensibly: use gold for core preservation and silver for its blend of industrial and monetary qualities. Mix coins for easier divisibility with bars for lower per-ounce costs on larger buys. Arrange secure storage—whether at home with proper insurance or through professional facilities.
As economic uncertainties linger and faith in conventional assets erodes, bullion continues proving its worth as a dependable store of value. Its direct approach avoids the hype that sometimes surrounds collectible markets and keeps the focus on the metal itself.
For investors prepared to strengthen their portfolios, Advisor Bullion supplies the expertise and selection needed to acquire high-quality bullion efficiently. Whether building personal holdings or integrating metals into an IRA, their emphasis on transparent, investment-grade products helps secure more ounces today that support greater financial security tomorrow. In a complicated financial landscape, bullion’s clarity and reliability make it the smarter foundation for protecting what matters most.