Within its suite of powerful trade weapons, China has one particularly fearsome tool: its ability to restrict foreign access to rare earth metals and the magnets that contain them.
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Due to the complexity involved in mining and refining rare earth metals, and getting the end-product up to spec, producing rare earth metals and magnets isn’t exactly a sure thing. For companies that use those products, the equation is just as tricky. Here’s Abigail Hunter, Executive Director at the SAFE Center for Critical Minerals Strategy:
“We’re dealing with a capitalist society where ultimately the quarterly earnings calls for these companies need to show … the best possible outlook. So keeping a ton of raw materials, magnets, more so than you actually need for your manufacturing system does not make economic sense for you.”
Read the full story: “Rare earth access: still a thing”
Listen to The Economic Costs podcast episode: “How to break China’s chokehold on rare earths”
