Apple partners with MP Materials to secure U.S.-sourced rare earths, align with Trump’s push for domestic tech supply chains

Apple has committed half a billion dollars to secure a critical component of its devices from a US source, striking a landmark deal with rare earths supplier MP Materials. The move signals a significant step away from China’s near-total dominance over the global supply of rare earth elements and aligns with mounting political pressure from President Donald Trump to manufacture more of the iPhone supply chain within the United States.

Announced on Tuesday, the deal ensures Apple will purchase rare earth magnets directly from MP Materials and will work with the company to create a new recycling facility in California. This facility will repurpose used materials for future Apple products, cementing the tech giant’s broader pivot towards a domestic and sustainable supply chain.

“American innovation drives everything we do at Apple,” CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. “Rare earth materials are essential for making advanced technology, and this partnership will help strengthen the supply of these vital materials here in the United States.”

Rare earths are indispensable to the functioning of modern electronics, including smartphones, TVs, military systems, and electric vehicles. Despite being relatively abundant in Earth’s crust, the refining process is complex, toxic, and expensive. China currently processes 92% of the world’s rare earth output, giving it sweeping leverage over global technology manufacturing.

Under the agreement, MP Materials’ new facility in Fort Worth, Texas, will manufacture rare earth magnets specifically for Apple’s devices. Deliveries are set to begin in 2027, with the goal of eventually supplying materials for hundreds of millions of Apple products. The effort will create dozens of US jobs and develop a domestic workforce with specialised training in magnet production—an industry where the US currently lacks deep expertise.

This initiative forms part of a broader $500 billion investment plan Apple announced earlier this year to expand US operations. That announcement was touted by Trump as a major win in his push to revive American manufacturing. In a post on Truth Social in May, the president directly called out the tech firm: “I expect their iPhones that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else… If that is not the case, a tariff of at least 25% must be paid by Apple to the U.S.”

While Apple has not indicated any plans to shift iPhone assembly to US soil—a move seen as logistically implausible due to America’s lack of scale and skill in tech manufacturing—this rare earth supply chain shift could serve as a diplomatic olive branch.

Apple’s sustainability goals also dovetail with the MP Materials deal. The company already uses recycled rare earths in many of its devices. The iPhone 16e, launched earlier this year, includes 30% recycled content, and magnets made from recycled rare earths appear in iPhones, Apple Watches, MacBooks, and more.

Still, shifting the tech ecosystem to the US remains a monumental task. As experts point out, the highly skilled labour pool needed to build iPhones—combining craftsmanship, robotics, and engineering—is still concentrated in Asia.

David Marcotte of Kantar explains: “The expertise to make each of the components is something that has to be worked on for a long period of time.”

Yet, with other tech giants like TSMC, Nvidia, and Texas Instruments announcing major investments in US production this year, Apple’s rare earths deal is part of a broader trend of onshoring critical tech infrastructure.

Whether the Trump administration will be satisfied with this effort remains to be seen. But with political, environmental, and supply chain interests now aligned, Apple’s $500 million move may signal the beginning of a quiet decoupling from China’s rare earth stranglehold.