Beating China on rare earth elements

US government is doing the job

Rare earth oxides of gadolinium, praseodymium, cerium, samarium, lanthanum, and neodymium. Photo courtesy of USDA ARS.

By William S. Bike

According to the Pew Research Center, the percentage of Americans with an unfavorable view of China crossed the 50% threshold during the Trump Administration and now for the third year in a row stands at over 80%.

For those who follow the world of high-tech, one of the reasons is China’s leadership in controlling rare earth elements (REEs). From consumer high tech such as cell phones, screens for computers and televisions, appliances, batteries, and digital cameras, to national security uses such as sonar and aircraft disk drives, America is way too reliant on China, which has for several years had more than 95% of the world’s rare earth minerals production.

America was the leader in mining and using REEs until the 1980s, when China became number one in the industry. It did not have to be that way. North America has 3.6 million tons of REEs in the United States and another 14 million tons of REEs in Canada, according to a 2024 report from the U.S. Geological Survey.

Amid all the election-year rhetoric between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump about how to handle China, the Biden…