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.

UK net zero delivery, large-scale battery storage and AI data centre build-out are at risk because UK supply chains for lithium, rare earth elements and other critical minerals remain heavily dependent on Chinese processing capacity, a parliamentary committee warns. MPs call for a coherent critical minerals strategy covering domestic exploration, recycling and allied-country offtake agreements, rather than relying on spot-market imports. For infrastructure and defence contractors, the report signals potential cost, schedule and specification risk for EV fleets, grid-scale storage, offshore wind and advanced electronics unless sourcing is diversified.