Highlights

• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent celebrated eVAC's new South Carolina facility as the first U.S. rare earth magnet production in 25 years, symbolizing America's push to end China's industry dominance.
• Despite the milestone, true supply chain independence remains years away—the facility assembles magnets but doesn't yet refine critical heavy rare earths like dysprosium and terbium at scale.
• The project demonstrates momentum with rapid permitting and construction, but experts warn the U.S. is still 5-10 years from full rare earth resilience across the entire mine-to-magnet supply chain.

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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s visit to Sumter, South Carolina, was pure theater and substance intertwined. Standing before eVAC (opens in a new tab), part of Germany’s VACUUMSCHMELZE (opens in a new tab) and its new rare-earth magnet facility, he declared in a Fox interview (opens in a new tab), “This is the first magnet made in the U.S. in 25 years — we’re ending China’s chokehold.” For the first time in decades, America is melting, separating, and pressing magnetic alloys on home soil. The administration calls it a manufacturing comeback; investors call it a test of whether Washington’s industrial reawakening can outlast the headlines.

The symbolism runs deep. Rare earth magnets power everything from smartphones to F-35s. The United States once dominated this field but ceded it to China. Now, the Trump administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” and national-security push have given birth to projects like EVAC’s, promising jobs, lower costs, and geopolitical leverage.

The Reality Beneath the Rhetoric

From a supply-chain standpoint, the announcement is positive but preliminary. The Sumter plant is assembling magnets, not yet separating or refining rare earth oxides at scale. The raw feedstock—whether from domestic projects such as MP Materials’ Mountain Pass or overseas processors—remains unclear. True independence requires control from mine to magnet, not just the last step.

Technically, U.S. refining capacity for critical heavy rare earths such as dysprosium and terbium remains nascent to say the least. Current domestic separation and purification projects are years away from full throughput, according to a Rare Earth Exchanges (REEx) analysis.  For now, the “chokehold” Bessent referenced is loosening only slightly based on the REEx assessment.

Still, EVAC’s speed is notable: state permits reportedly approved in eight weeks, 800 construction workers mobilized, and expansion potential “six to ten times larger.” For industrial policy watchers, this demonstrates that political will and state coordination can still move mountains—at least the bureaucratic kind.

Between Triumph and Trial

The South Carolina magnet center is a step in the right direction but not yet a revolution. It will add value domestically, shorten supply lines, and serve as proof-of-concept that private capital and policy incentives can coexist. Yet, claims of total independence are premature. The U.S. remains 5–10 years away from full rare earth resilience, particularly in heavy-element refining.

In essence, this factory marks momentum, not mastery—a milestone in America’s industrial return, but the race to close the materials gap is far from won.

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