Rubio Bill Seeks to End China’s Rare Earth Monopoly, Aid US Manufacturing

Two F-35s (L and R) and two F-18s fly overhead during the "Salute to America" Fourth of July event at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington on July 4, 2019. Rare earths are needed for the permanent magnets used in these fighter jets. MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

WASHINGTON—A Senate bill introduced July 11 would authorize a privately funded and managed rare earth cooperative aimed at restoring U.S. advanced manufacturing, and ending China’s dominance of a technology sector crucial to national security.

The “RE-Coop 21st Century Manufacturing Act of 2019” was introduced by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who described it in a statement as “a crucial ingredient for the resurgence of America’s advanced manufacturing sector by allowing domestic industries to regain competitiveness and break China’s control over the global rare earth value chain.”