Canada Supplies Critical Minerals the US Military Relies On

As trade negotiations between the United States and Canada showed signs of breaking down in late August, President Donald Trump declared on Truth Social that America has no need for its northern neighbor. The reality, according to trade and defense data, tells a different story.

Canada is the largest foreign supplier of minerals to the United States, delivering roughly $47 billion worth each year. Among the most strategically significant is aluminum: approximately 60% of all aluminum consumed annually in the US originates in Canada, where vast, remote river systems power smelting operations with abundant, low-carbon hydroelectric energy.

Read more EU Offers Canada 'Associate' Status as Carney Pitches Deep Ties →

The US military depends heavily on aluminum across a wide range of weapons systems and platforms, from artillery shell casings to naval vessel hulls and aircraft fuselages. The Pentagon's F-35 fighter jet — one of the most advanced combat aircraft in the American arsenal — is composed of roughly 40% aluminum by airframe composition, underscoring just how embedded the metal is in national defense infrastructure.

Trump himself has at times acknowledged the dependency. "This country desperately needs aluminum," he said last month. "We get it all from Canada for the most part, and we need it badly." That admission stands in direct tension with his rhetorical positioning on trade, and his administration has largely exempted metals from the newest rounds of tariffs.

The dynamic mirrors, in some respects, the US relationship with China, which also controls supplies of minerals critical to American military and industrial capacity. Analysts note that the mineral interdependence between Washington and Ottawa complicates any move toward economic decoupling, regardless of the political posturing on either side. Continue reading at Business | The Guardian.