With a name like “rare earths” you would think that the metals in this category would be, you know, rare.
They aren’t, though. They are actually pretty abundant and are even more so, given that we don’t use them in great quantity compared to other metals like copper, iron, or tin. What they are is difficult to refine in an environmentally sensitive manner.
That means that we outsource the job to countries that don’t care much about the environment, and that means, primarily in this case, to China.
China has a near monopoly on rare earth minerals that wind up in US products, and rare earth minerals have become an important part of the modern tech world–ironically enough, especially so for “environmentally friendly” tech like electric vehicles and “renewable energy.”
China suspends rare earth exports, kneecapping US industry reliant on Beijing’s…
