US and Canada Discuss Supply of Rare Earths as China Dominates

Rare earths, which are known as "industrial gold", have always been an integral part of modern life. Recently, the US President Donald Trump and Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have discussed the need to ensure reliable supplies of critical metals and minerals, a market currently dominated by China.

Rare earths comprise a relatively abundant group of 17 elements, including the 15 lanthanide elements on the periodic table. The metals are essential ingredients in all kinds of high-tech goods, including smartphones, laptops, hybrid cars, wind turbines, and solar cells, among other things. There are important defense applications as well, such as jet fighter engines, missile guidance systems, antimissile defense, space-based satellites and communication systems. With the development of high-end technology, the demand is growing rapidly, and some analysts predict that the demand for core energy minerals will increase to 1000% by 2050.

On September 30, when Trudeau met with Trump, he specifically emphasized the country's advantages in supplying rare earths resources and said that the country can provide reliable suppllies. “It is in our interests to ensure that we have reliable supplies of these important minerals for technology, and it’s a conversation that our government is leading on,” Trudeau told journalists at the press conference. “Canada has many of the rare earth minerals that are so necessary for modern technologies.” Canada still adheres to the consistent aim of dedicating itself to the needs of the US. But can the country provide the "reliable" supply?

China is currently the only country in the world that can produce 17 kinds of all rare earth elements. According to the data, as of October 2018, China applied for 25,911 rare earth-related patents, Japan ranked second with 13,920, US 9810, and Europe 7,280. Chinese patent projects almost reached the sum of the United States, Japan, and Europe.

Just a month ago, Australia, the world's fifth-largest rare earth reserves country, launched a rare earth development project worth 27.7 billion yuan. However, Australian rare earth experts bluntly said that this plan could not be achieved and could not compete with China. It would certainly lose money. Canada is simply incomparable in the field of rare earths, with reserves only ninth in the world and far below Australia. Needless to say, Canada is an agricultural country, and the industry is based on the US, and it cannot provide support for rare earth processing technology.

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