Title 10 — Armed ForcesRelease 119-73
§4872 Acquisition of sensitive materials from non-allied foreign nations: prohibition
Title 10 › Subtitle Subtitle A— - General Military Law › Part PART V— - ACQUISITION › Subpart Subpart I— - Defense Industrial Base › Chapter CHAPTER 385— - OTHER TECHNOLOGY BASE POLICIES AND PROGRAMS › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER III— - LIMITATIONS ON PROCUREMENT FROM CERTAIN FOREIGN SOURCES › § 4872
Summary
The Secretary of Defense must not buy certain sensitive materials or items that contain them if they were made or melted in North Korea, China, Russia, or Iran. The rule also bars selling materials from the National Defense Stockpile to those countries or to anyone who is acting for them, if the Stockpile Manager says the sale would hurt U.S. interests. This ban applies to prime contracts and subcontracts at every level. Covered materials are: samarium‑cobalt magnets; neodymium‑iron‑boron magnets; tungsten metal powder; tungsten heavy alloy or parts that contain it; tantalum metals and alloys; and molybdenum. There are limited exceptions. A waiver up to 36 months can be granted if a needed material of the right quality, form, and amount cannot be bought at a reasonable price. Purchases for contingency operations or for use outside the United States are allowed. Some commercial off‑the‑shelf items, many electronics, certain recycled magnets and recycled tantalum/tungsten/molybdenum processed in the United States or an approved partner country are allowed under rules. Approval authority can be delegated to contracting or acquisition leaders up to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment. The Secretary may also accept delivery of such items if a written national‑security finding is made, with notice to congressional defense committees before the finding or, in urgent cases, within 7 days. If a national‑security waiver already exists for the same item, it may be used here too.
Full Legal Text
Title 10, §4872
Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)Except as provided in subsections (c) and (e), the Secretary of Defense may not—
(1)procure any covered material melted or produced in any covered nation, or any end item that contains a covered material manufactured in any covered nation, except as provided by subsections (c) and (e); or
(2)sell any material from the National Defense Stockpile, if the National Defense Stockpile Manager determines that such a sale is not in the national interests of the United States, to—
(A)any covered nation; or
(B)any third party that the Secretary reasonably believes is acting as a broker or agent for a covered nation or an entity in a covered nation.
(b)Subsection (a) shall apply to prime contracts and subcontracts at any tier.
(c)Subsection (a)(1) does not apply under the following circumstances:
(1)If the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of the military department concerned—
(A)identifies a specific end item for which a specific covered material of satisfactory quality and quantity, in the required form, cannot be procured as and when needed at a reasonable price; and
(B)waives subsection (a)(1) for such specific end item and such specific covered material for a period not exceeding 36 months.
(2)To the procurement of an end item described in subsection (a)(1) or the sale of any covered material described under subsection (a)(1) by the Secretary outside of the United States in support of contingency operations or for use outside of the United States.
(3)To the purchase by the Secretary of an end item containing a covered material that is—
(A)a commercially available off-the-shelf item (as defined in section 104 of title 41), other than—
(i)a commercially available off-the-shelf item that is 50 percent or more tungsten by weight; or
(ii)a mill product, such as bar, billet, slab, wire, cube, sphere, block, blank, plate, or sheet, that has not been incorporated into an end item, subsystem, assembly, or component;
(B)an electronic device, unless the Secretary of Defense, upon the recommendation of the Strategic and Critical Materials Board of Directors pursuant to section 10 of the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act (50 U.S.C. 98h–1), determines that the domestic availability of a particular electronic device is critical to national security;
(C)a neodymium-iron-boron magnet or samarium-cobalt magnet manufactured from recycled material if the milling of the recycled material and sintering of the final magnet takes place in the United States; or
(D)tantalum, tungsten, or molybdenum produced from recycled material if the contractor demonstrates to the Secretary that the recycled material was produced outside of a covered nation and the melting of the recycled material and any further processing and manufacturing of the recycled material takes place in the United States or in the country of a qualifying foreign government, as defined in section 4863(m)(11) of this title.
(d)The authorities in subsection (c)—
(1)may be delegated to the head of contracting activity for the relevant component for an exception for a single acquisition program;
(2)may be delegated to the senior acquisition executive of a military department for an exception for multiple programs within such military department; and
(3)may be delegated to the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment for an exception for more than one military department.
(e)(1)Notwithstanding subsection (a), the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of the military department concerned, may accept the delivery of an end item containing covered material manufactured in a covered nation if the Secretary determines in writing that acceptance of such end item is necessary to the national security interests of the United States.
(2)A written determination under paragraph (1)—
(A)may be delegated—
(i)to the senior acquisition executive of the military department concerned for a waiver for one or more acquisition programs within such military department; and
(ii)to the Deputy Secretary of Defense or the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment for a waiver applicable to more than one military department;
(B)shall specify the quantity of end items to which the waiver applies and the time period over which the waiver applies; and
(C)shall be provided to the congressional defense committees prior to making such a determination (except that in the case of an urgent national security requirement, such certification may be provided to the defense committees up to 7 days after it is made).
(3)If the Secretary of Defense or the authorized delegate has made a determination under subsection (k) of section 4863 of this title for a national security waiver of the restrictions under subsection (a) of that section for a specific end item, the Secretary or authorized delegate may apply that waiver to the restrictions under subsection (a) of this section for the same covered material or end item.
(f)In this section:
(1)The term “covered material” means—
(A)samarium-cobalt magnets;
(B)neodymium-iron-boron magnets;
(C)tungsten metal powder;
(D)tungsten heavy alloy or any finished or semi-finished component containing tungsten heavy alloy;
(E)tantalum metals and alloys; and
(F)molybdenum.
(2)The term “covered nation” means—
(A)the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea;
(B)the People’s Republic of China;
(C)the Russian Federation; and
(D)the Islamic Republic of Iran.
(3)The term “end item” has the meaning given in section 4863(m) of this title.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Amendment of Section Pub. L. 116–283, div. A, title VIII, § 844, Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 3766, as amended by Pub. L. 119–60, div. A, title VIII, § 848, Dec. 18, 2025, 139 Stat. 978, provided that, effective 6 years after Jan. 1, 2021, this section is amended as follows: (1) in subsection (a), by striking “; or” in paragraph (1) and inserting a semicolon, by striking the period at the end of paragraph (2)(B) and inserting “; or”, and by adding at the end the following new paragraph: “(3) enter into a contract for any covered material mined, refined, or separated in any covered nation.”; and (2) in subsection (c)(3)(A)(i), by striking “tungsten” and inserting “covered material”. See 2021 Amendment notes below. Pub. L. 119–60, div. A, title VIII, § 844(b), Dec. 18, 2025, 139 Stat. 976, provided that, effective two years after Dec. 18, 2025, this section is amended as follows: (1) in subsection (c)(3)(D), by striking “or molybdenum” and inserting “molybdenum, gallium, or germanium”; and (2) in subsection (f)(1), by adding at the end the following new subparagraphs: “(G) germanium; and “(H) gallium.” See 2025 Amendment notes below.
Editorial Notes
Codification Pub. L. 116–283, § 1870(d)(2), which had initially directed the transfer of section 2536 of this title to this section, was amended by Pub. L. 117–81, § 1701(t)(2)(B), (C), and, after that amendment, such transfer was no longer directed. Instead, Pub. L. 116–283, as amended by Pub. L. 117–81, transferred section 2533c of this title to this section and section 2536 of this title to section 4874.
Amendments
2025—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 119–60, § 843(1)(A), which directed substitution of “subsections (c) and (e)” for “subsection (c) or subsection (e)” was executed by making the substitution for “subsection (c) or (e)” in introductory provisions, to reflect the probable intent of Congress. Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 119–60, § 843(1)(B), substituted “subsections (c) and (e)” for “subsection (c)”. Subsec. (c)(3)(C). Pub. L. 119–60, § 844(a)(2)(B)(i), inserted “or samarium-cobalt magnet” after “neodymium-iron-boron magnet”. Subsec. (c)(3)(D). Pub. L. 119–60, § 844(b)(2), substituted “molybdenum, gallium, or germanium” for “or molybdenum”. Pub. L. 119–60, § 844(a)(2)(A), (B)(ii), (C), added subpar. (D). Subsec. (e)(1). Pub. L. 119–60, § 1701(a)(31), which directed substitution of “the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of the military department concerned” for “the Secretary of Defense of the Secretary or the Secretary of the military department concerned”, could not be executed because of the intervening amendment by Pub. L. 119–60, § 843(2)(A). See note below. Pub. L. 119–60, § 843(2)(A), struck out “of the Secretary” after “the Secretary of Defense”. Subsec. (e)(3). Pub. L. 119–60, § 843(2)(B), added par. (3). Subsec. (f)(1)(F). Pub. L. 119–60, § 844(a)(1), added subpar. (F). Subsec. (f)(1)(G), (H). Pub. L. 119–60, § 844(b)(1), added subpars. (G) and (H). 2024—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 118–159, § 844(b)(1), inserted “or (e)” after “subsection (c)” in introductory provisions. Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 118–159, § 844(b)(2)(A), inserted “or the Secretary of the military department concerned” after “Secretary of Defense” in introductory provisions. Subsec. (c)(2). Pub. L. 118–159, § 844(b)(2)(B), inserted “in support of contingency operations or” before “for use outside”. Subsecs. (d) to (f). Pub. L. 118–159, § 844(b)(3), (4), added subsecs. (d) and (e) and redesignated former subsec. (d) as (f). 2023—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 118–31, § 834(1), substituted “Subsection (a)(1)” for “Subsection (a)” in introductory provisions. Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 118–31, § 834(2), substituted “Defense—” for “Defense determines that covered materials”, inserted subpar. (A) designation and “identifies a specific end item for which a specific covered material” before “of satisfactory quality”, and added subpar. (B). 2022—Subsec. (c)(3)(B). Pub. L. 117–263 substituted “Strategic and Critical Materials Board of Directors pursuant to section 10 of the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act (50 U.S.C. 98h–1)” for “Strategic Materials Protection Board pursuant to section 187 of this title”. 2021—Pub. L. 116–283, § 1870(d)(3)(B), as amended by Pub. L. 117–81, § 1701(t)(3), amended section catchline generally. Prior to amendment, section catchline read as follows: “Prohibition on acquisition of sensitive materials from non-allied foreign nations”. Pub. L. 116–283, § 1870(d)(2), as amended by Pub. L. 117–81, § 1701(t)(2)(B), (C), renumbered section 2533c of this title as this section. Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 116–283, § 844(a)(1), as amended by Pub. L. 119–60, § 848, added par. (3). Subsec. (c)(3)(A)(i). Pub. L. 116–283, § 844(a)(2), as amended by Pub. L. 119–60, § 848(1), substituted “covered material” for “tungsten”. Subsec. (d)(3). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1870(d)(3)(A), as amended by Pub. L. 117–81, § 1701(t)(3), substituted “section 4863(m)” for “section 2533b(m)”. 2019—Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 116–92, § 849(a), substituted “material” for “covered material” in introductory provisions. Subsec. (d)(1)(E). Pub. L. 116–92, § 849(b), added subpar. (E).
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 2025 Amendment Pub. L. 119–60, div. A, title VIII, § 844(b)(3), Dec. 18, 2025, 139 Stat. 977, provided that: “The
Amendments
made by paragraphs (1) and (2) [amending this section] shall take effect on the date that is two years after the date of the enactment of this Act [Dec. 18, 2025].”
Effective Date
of 2021 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 117–81 applicable as if included in the enactment of title XVIII of Pub. L. 116–283 as enacted, see section 1701(a)(2) of Pub. L. 117–81, set out in a note preceding section 3001 of this title and note below for section 1870(d)(2), (3) of Pub. L. 116–283. Pub. L. 116–283, div. A, title VIII, § 844(b), Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 3766, as amended by Pub. L. 118–31, div. A, title VIII, § 854, Dec. 22, 2023, 137 Stat. 345, provided that: “The
Amendments
made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall take effect on the date that is 6 years after the date of the enactment of this Act [Jan. 1, 2021].” Amendment by section 1870(d)(2), (3) of Pub. L. 116–283 effective Jan. 1, 2022, with additional provisions for delayed implementation and applicability of existing law, see section 1801(d) of Pub. L. 116–283, set out as a note preceding section 3001 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
10 U.S.C. § 4872
Title 10 — Armed Forces
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73