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A new cold war is brewing over rare earth minerals | China has implemented new export controls for rare earth minerals and magnets. The changes could upend the shift to electric vehicles.
Rare earth materials aren’t that rare.
“Magnets are so integral to the performance of motors and the conversion of energy into motion,” says Matt Sloustcher of MP Materials, the company working to revitalize the Mountain Pass rare earths mine in California. According to Worstall, the US could produce and refine its own dysprosium with a $200 million investment from the government and if projects were permitted quickly, environmental regulations were scrapped, and the American public was willing to make the sacrifice — which feels nearly impossible in this political and cultural environment. Conroy predicts that automakers (both ICE and EV makers) could face roughly 18 to 24 months of severe pain and restriction as a result of the Chinese export changes, but he warns that that’s only if the West is willing to make some big changes very quickly.
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