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Bad News for China: Rare Earth Elements Aren’t That Rare
China is limiting US access to critical minerals in response to President Donald Trump’s tariffs, but the move isn’t as devastating as Beijing wants it to be.
As the trade war between China and the United States continues to escalate, Beijing is responding by turning to one of its favorite retaliation tactics: limiting the export of critical minerals used in many high-tech electronics, from fighter jets to wind turbines. Earlier this month, the Chinese government escalated things even further, subjecting seven rare earth elements to a more comprehensive export licensing program that covers the whole world and is designed to further choke off American companies. Unlike making advanced semiconductors, which requires using sophisticated machinery worth hundreds of millions of dollars and building extremely complicated factories, critical minerals aren’t that hard to produce.
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