US Struggles to End Reliance on China's Rare Earth

The US aims to rebuild a soup-to-nuts rare earth supply chain in the country that would, after decades of growing reliance on China and other foreign suppliers, restore self-reliance in a vital sector. The United States recently threatened to sanction China, but the country pinched American weakness, that is, rare earth. For the United States, rare earths are not only necessary materials of next-generation smartphones, wind turbines, and other equipment. For manufacturing military products such as F35 fighter jet, various rare elements are also necessary. In terms of rare-earth supply, it is extremely dependent on my country, about 80% of the value minerals are imported from my country.

Therefore, achieving the independence of rare earths has always been a topic that is frequently discussed in US defense. Whenever certain targeted measures are to be taken against China, such discussions will become more intense-they are afraid that the country will limit the export of rare earths or even cut off the supply.

With the recent increase in provocation against China, this concern has also increased, and the call for establishing a rare-earth supply chain has also grown. However, an American expert pointed out that the Pentagon and the White House have made little progress on the issue of rare earth. At present, whether it is the private sector or government-funded institutions, the focus is on mining more of the minerals underground in the United States to get rid of Chinese control. But this is a bit off the direction. Although Chinese rare earth reserves are large and diverse, they are not the only conditions for them to control the market.

The production of F35 fighters. Rare earths can be obtained from many countries, such as Australia, Canada, Greenland, Brazil, and India. But to process these ores and refine them into usable metals, they still have to rely on Chinese tech. Refining the mined rare-earth ore can obtain high-value materials such as rare metals and alloys, which can then be applied to defense and high-tech fields.

China has formed a complete rare earth supply chain. With nearly 100% rare metal industry chain, including production, refining, research, and development, intellectual property, and defense applications, etc. Hasty sanctions could only hurt both sides. Therefore, if the US wants to impose sanctions on our country, it is still necessary to consider whether it can afford the result of the supply cutoff.

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