Over the long term, however, an effort to reduce the dependence on imports will pay off. Last week, China instituted export curbs on certain critical minerals like it did several years ago with Japan amid a trade dispute. In other words, China is no stranger to using its dominance in the sector as lever against trade partners with import dependence. China produces as much as 90% of the world’s rare earths output. This prompted a push by Western nations to diversify into their own rare earth supply chains but doing this has proven much trickier than talking about it.
