Insiders liken it to a ¡°panic button.¡± For more than 80 years, the primary job of the National Defense Stockpile (NDS) has been to keep the U.S. military supplied with essential raw materials and protect against supply shocks.

So when China surprised the markets by restricting exports of two niche industrial metals last year, top-level officials in the Pentagon-controlled agency ¡ª and the White House ¡ª faced an uncomfortable reality: Its panic button no longer worked.

The realization triggered a different kind of alarm in Washington.

A senior official in the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, admits that Beijing¡¯s decision to limit exports of gallium and germanium sent a jolt through the White House, adding to already urgent calls for Washington to confront China¡¯s dominance of the global metals supply chain.

A lack of gallium and germanium ¡ª which are mined in tiny volumes alongside aluminum and zinc ¡ª would potentially affect production of everything from military satellites to missiles and night-vision goggles.

On this occasion the crisis was averted as Chinese exports resumed, but years of budget cuts have shrunk the agency¡¯s strategic reserves to record lows. Former officials at the Pentagon¡¯s Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), which manages the stockpile, say the U.S. faces serious shortages of the raw materials needed to execute the energy transition at the scale envisioned by Biden and his team.

¡°This is literally the worst time to discover the ¡®oh s---¡¯ button doesn¡¯t work,¡± says one former Defense Department stockpiling veteran, who asked to remain anonymous while discussing issues of national security.

More than 40 interviews with industry executives, officials and politicians shed light on Western efforts to create an alternative, China-free, global metals supply chain.

The U.S. in particular has been a hive of activity. Officials have rushed around the globe to negotiate deals with key allies, while behind the scenes U.S. diplomats are cajoling Western miners to expand investment in the copper- and cobalt-rich Democratic Republic of Congo, where China dominates production.

The Biden administration also intends to team up with the European Union to bolster efforts to gain some control over global supplies, while it funnels billions of dollars into projects to create a domestic mining and refining raw material supply chain.

Yet Beijing¡¯s dominance remains unshaken. Tangible results from U.S. efforts have so far been limited, and executives at some of the world¡¯s biggest mining companies have reported frustration at what they view as a lack of a coherent strategy on critical minerals supply.

Other industry executives have urged Washington to take a cue from Beijing and develop a more nimble stockpiling program to both protect...