Critical Minerals & Defense Supply Chains: The U.S. House passed the DOMINANCE Act (H.R. 7037) to chip away at China’s rare-earth processing chokehold, aiming to build allied extraction and processing redundancy for defense and advanced manufacturing. Nuclear Buildout: Sweden’s Vattenfall selected Rolls-Royce SMR for a major small modular reactor expansion at Ringhals, underscoring how factory-built nuclear components are gaining traction as electricity demand rises. Robotics Policy: A bipartisan group of senators introduced the National Commission on Robotics Act, pushing for a national review of U.S. robotics competitiveness, workforce needs, and supply-chain security. Manufacturing & Jobs on the Ground: Alabama’s Spec Rubber is adding a 120,000-square-foot warehouse after its biggest expansion, while Lockheed Martin broke ground on an 87,000-square-foot munitions production center in Troy to ramp THAAD interceptor output. Energy Infrastructure: Clean Energy Fuels won contracts to design and install LNG fueling systems in Puerto Rico, including support for local pharmaceutical manufacturing operations. Workplace Safety & Accountability: A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation highlights lax worker protections at the Lower Fox River PCB cleanup site, renewing calls for stronger oversight. Geopolitics With Industrial Ripples: U.S.-Iran talks advanced toward a memorandum that could reopen the Strait of Hormuz—an outcome markets and manufacturers watch closely for oil and input-cost stability.