Chinese dominance in this critical sector of the economy did not happen by accident—it was a policy choice.
Last month, in response to President Donald Trump’s tariff regime, China imposed new export controls on rare earth materials and magnets. Officially, these aren’t bans—but practically, shipments have stopped. This is no small issue: America’s tech leadership, military readiness, and clean energy ambitions all rely on rare earths.
This latest disruption exposes a strategic vulnerability—one that we, not China, created through years of strategic neglect. Without immediate action to rebuild our industrial base, spur innovation, and train a skilled workforce, we will lose our economic and military advantage.
We’ve played spectator to this spectacle before. In 2010, after a maritime clash, China halted rare earth exports to Japan, triggering a scramble to build alternative supply chains. Tokyo poured resources into recycling, new mining, and material substitution.
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