Rare earths aren’t the world’s sexiest commodity. The 17 elements are notoriously difficult to extract from the ground and have brazenly obscure names. (Don’t make the classic rookie mistake of confusing yttrium with yttribium.) But what they lack in branding, they certainly make up for in utility and ubiquity: they’re essential to products as wide-ranging as wind turbines, smartphones, high-tech weapon systems, and even your fishing reel.
Although the United States was once a major supplier of rare earths, China has been the world’s primary source since the 1990s. And that makes them more than just a commodity; they’re a test of how China’s vast economic and diplomatic ambitions bear on one another. As recent events demonstrate, they’re also a window into understanding that, even in the face of obstacles, China won’t give them up so easily.
As recently as 2013 China provided 86 percent of the world’s rare earths supply and, especially over the past several years, Chinese officials have made no secret of their plans to use their accumulating monopoly power.
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