News Analysis
Washington’s recent move to limit semiconductor exports to China has raised concerns that Beijing might retaliate by cutting off rare earth supplies, similar to what it did to Japan in 2010. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (pdf), China has the world’s largest rare earth reserves, accounting for 78 percent of the U.S.’s rare earth imports from 2017 to 2020.
However, in response to such concerns, experts suggest that Beijing’s “rare earth card” likely won’t pose any real threat as nations, especially the United States, have started mining on their own for rare earth elements.
Rare earth metals are essential to the defense and clean energy industries. They are found in defense products such as lasers, radar, night vision systems, missile guidance, jet engines, and alloys for armored vehicles, as well as critical raw material for permanent magnets used in electric vehicles and wind turbines….