OpinionThinking About China

How Much Control Does China Have Over Rare Earth Elements?

China has engineered global control over rare earth elements—but it cannot last.
Save
How Much Control Does China Have Over Rare Earth Elements?
A front loader shifts soil containing rare earth minerals to be loaded at a port in Lianyungang, east of China's Jiangsu Province, on Sept. 5, 2010. STR/AFP via Getty Images
Milton Ezrati
Updated:
0:00
Commentary

China presently dominates the global supply of rare earth elements (REE). A vital input to everything from smartphones to electric vehicles, to wind turbines, to intercontinental missiles, and more, Beijing threatens sales bans as a way to intimidate other nations.

Milton Ezrati
Milton Ezrati
Author
Milton Ezrati is a contributing editor at The National Interest, an affiliate of the Center for the Study of Human Capital at the University at Buffalo (SUNY), and chief economist for Vested, a New York-based communications firm. Before joining Vested, he served as chief market strategist and economist for Lord, Abbett & Co. He also writes frequently for City Journal and blogs regularly for Forbes. His latest book is "Thirty Tomorrows: The Next Three Decades of Globalization, Demographics, and How We Will Live."
Related Topics