BNOW.NET · critical-materials dependency
Critical-materials choke points
Where US imports of a critical good concentrate in one or few geopolitically-exposed suppliers. Concentration (HHI) is the choke-point severity; sensitive-supplier share is the exposure. 4 of 11 tracked materials are highly concentrated. Fused with our live conflict/sanctions signals as theater coverage expands.
Rare-earth compounds
HS 2846 · 2024choke pointRare-earth production and especially processing are heavily concentrated in China.
China 68.1% · Japan 12.1% · France 5.2% · Austria 4.4%
Rare-earth metals / alkali metals
HS 2805 · 2024choke pointUpstream rare-earth metals, China-dominated.
China 60% · France 25.3% · Germany 12.7% · Canada 0.7%
Lithium-ion batteries
HS 8507 · 2024choke pointEV/grid battery cells concentrated in China and South Korea.
China 55.9% · Japan 9.3% · South Korea 9.1% · Mexico 5.2%
Crude oil
HS 2709 · 2024choke pointCanada is the largest single foreign crude supplier to the US, pipeline-hardwired — see the measured share below.
Canada 59.2% · Mexico 7.2% · Saudi Arabia 4.8% · Brazil 3.8%
Doped semiconductor wafers
HS 3818 · 2024Silicon wafers / doped substrates — Japan-dominated upstream.
Japan 40.9% · Taiwan 13.3% · South Korea 12.1% · China 9.2%
Integrated circuits (chips)
HS 8542 · 2024Advanced-node fabrication is heavily concentrated in Taiwan; back-end packaging clusters in Malaysia/Vietnam.
Taiwan 28.1% · Malaysia 23.8% · Israel 10.4% · South Korea 6%
Permanent magnets (NdFeB)
HS 8505 · 2024Rare-earth magnet supply (motors, defense, wind) is dominated by China.
China 44.5% · Mexico 12.3% · Germany 8.1% · Japan 6.9%
Antibiotics (APIs)
HS 2941 · 2024Active pharmaceutical ingredients / precursors — China & India dominant.
Italy 34.6% · China 31.5% · Denmark 6.5% · India 5.4%
Uranium / nuclear fuel
HS 2844 · 2024Enriched uranium and nuclear fuel — Canada, Kazakhstan, Russia.
Canada 25.8% · France 17% · United Kingdom 15.6% · Germany 10.8%
Semiconductor devices / diodes
HS 8541 · 2024Discrete semis and power devices, East-Asia concentrated.
Vietnam 25.1% · Thailand 15.5% · Malaysia 14.6% · India 7.2%
Gallium / germanium / rare gases
HS 2804 · 2024Gallium & germanium (chip/defense inputs) — China export-controlled.
Canada 34.6% · Brazil 22.2% · Germany 7.1% · Australia 5.1%
Source: UN Comtrade (official database) — US goods imports (reporter M49 842, flow M), partner breakdown per HS code, latest reported year shown on each card · last fetched 2026-07-06. Query shape: Comtrade documentation. Dependency data is global; the live geopolitical-stress overlay deepens with theater coverage.