Back in 2010, a congressionally mandated US government study spotlighted how China’s dominant position in the rare earths market gave it the power to affect worldwide supply and prices. Rebuilding a US rare earth supply chain might take up to 15 years, the analysis showed.
Those 15 years would take us to…right about now. But Washington didn’t organize such a rebuild, despite the importance of magnets made from rare earths in myriad defense and consumer products. The result: in April, Beijing indeed used its dominance to affect supply. The leverage proved critical when President Donald Trump slapped prohibitive tariffs on China as part of his global trade war, and helped force Washington into the truce that now stands.