North American Drone and Robotics Motor Makers Confront China's Magnet Dominance

Highlights

• China produced roughly 90% of sintered permanent magnets in 2025, leaving North American motor makers exposed despite domestic assembly operations
• REEx identifies six established motor suppliers—including Kollmorgen, Moog, and Allient—but most do not publicly disclose their magnet suppliers or drone OEM customers
• Lynas and JS Link plan a 3,000-tonne Malaysian NdFeB magnet factory, but no surveyed North American motor maker has confirmed shifting purchases away from China
• Moog and Niron Magnetics are testing iron-nitride magnets with zero rare earth content for defense actuators, representing a potential alternative to Chinese supply
• The critical gap is not motor manufacturing capacity but documented supply agreements linking non-Chinese rare earths, qualified magnets, and proven motors