How Rare Earths Became China’s Top Trade Weapon

Christina Lu, 

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Months of fraught U.S.-China trade talks have laid bare just how reliant the United States is on China for rare earths, the powerful raw materials that underpin technology from fighter jets to wind turbines.

Washington and Beijing have been locked in a bitter trade war since U.S. President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs on much of the world in April, at one point driving up tariffs on China to a staggering 145 percent. China struck back by singling out one of Washington’s key vulnerabilities: rare earths.