The US Defense Logistics Agency has committed $2 billion in FY2026 to acquire strategic and critical materials for the National Defense Stockpile, targeting rare earths, tungsten, titanium, antimony, high‑purity aluminium and vanadium pentoxide. Contracts issued through DLA’s Contracting Services Office are structured as targeted demand signals to US miners, refiners and recyclers to reshore supply, reduce single‑point‑of‑failure risk and support the National Defense Strategy’s focus on resilient, secure supply chains. For producers, domestic sourcing and reclamation routes that can deliver defence‑grade material forms now have clearer long‑term demand visibility.

Canada’s 2026 budget extends the 15% Mineral Exploration Tax Credit and 30% Critical Mineral Exploration Tax Credit for flow-through agreements signed to 31 March 2032, adds antimony to the 30% credit, and commits C$424.4 million to renew the Canadian Critical Minerals Strategy plus C$34 million to extend GeoNorth. PDAC welcomes the longer runway and public geoscience spend, but AME warns that excluding engineering, economic and feasibility studies from Canadian Exploration Expense keeps the financing gap between discovery and construction. For project delivery, Ottawa also prolongs Clean Technology and Clean Electricity investment tax credits to 2040, expands eligibility to highest-voltage transmission lines, and allocates nearly C$4 billion over 10 years for grid and renewable infrastructure.

Unite the union is urging full renationalisation of Great Britain’s electricity transmission and distribution grid, arguing the government’s Energy Independence Bill will not deliver “real energy independence”. The union is challenging the current model where National Grid plc and a patchwork of private distribution network operators control high-voltage and medium-voltage assets. For civil and electrical engineers, a shift to public ownership could alter long-term grid investment planning, procurement routes for major reinforcement projects, and risk allocation on large substation and overhead line upgrades.