Rare Earth Magnets - Another Contest between China and US

Besides holding rare earths, China owns another invaluable resource with a monopoly position which is merely available - the rare earth magnets. They are super-strong permanent magnets. Nowadays, most of the electronic products use these materials. As the US is a big technology country, permanent magnets have a huge impact in the country. To some extent, the rare earth magnets are even more important than rare earths for the US.

Rare-earth magnets are those which retain their magnetic properties even in the absence of an inductive field. They are the strongest available magnets and are broadly based on two rare earth elements – neodymium and samarium. They are extremely strong, having a magnetic pull-force that is 10 times greater than ferrite magnets and 20,000 times greater than the Earth's magnetic field. These magnets are brittle as well as powerful and they can shatter easily. If proper care is taken when handling them, they can be put to many instructive and creative uses.

Nearly 90% of the world's rare earth magnets are produced in China, so the lifeblood of America for these resources are almost in the hands of other countries. If rare earths are high-tech additives, then high-performance permanent magnet materials must be a catalyst for military development. Experts said that relying on rare earth materials made of permanent magnets, under the same volume, its magnetic force is much stronger than other magnets.

Rare-earth magnets have very high value in the military and civilian fields. The US media complained that China monopolized most of the global rare earth magnets casting process. America wants to surpass our country from technology. Although America can also extract permanent magnets from rare earths, the performance is much different from ours. In terms of purification technology and resource reserves, the US cannot compare it with China.

Economy and military are two swords of national development, they are inseparable from the support of resources like the rare earth magnets and tungsten. Everything could be void without enough resources. Once China had suffered a big loss in rare earth resources, which was hugely purchased by the US and Western countries, and when we realized its powerfulness, it was a little bit late. This time, we must grasp the resources firmly.

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