These metals have become the plaything of the US-China trade war
A group of 17 metallic elements that have similar chemical properties and are essential for modern industry. They often occur together in nature
In 2025, rare earths have come to symbolise the global battle over critical minerals like never before — and become shorthand for the way in which the west is scrambling to compete with China’s dominance in supply chains.
Although they are not in fact “rare” in geologic terms, rare earths such as neodymium are extremely difficult to separate and refine, a process that is at present totally dominated by China. They are also essential for modern industry, used in everything from aeroplanes to electric vehicles to wind turbines, and crucial for the “permanent magnets” in certain motors.
As the relationship between China and the US has deteriorated, rare earths exports have become the plaything of the US-China trade war, which has been difficult for the industries involved. The European Union and the US have both rushed to bolster their rare earth miners and refiners, but many see it as being too little, too late.
Beijing has used its control of these raw materials as a key lever in its trade negotiations with the US — perhaps something foreseen by the country’s former leader Deng Xiaoping in 1987, when he said that while “The Middle East has oil, China has rare earths”.
A recent “trade war truce” means China has theoretically suspended most export controls on rare earths until November 2026. But that could easily be reversed again.
For US President Donald Trump, “rare earths” has been one of his pet phrases this year, appearing in the State of the Union address in March, and more than a dozen speeches and Truth Social posts. As the US struggles to line up alternative supplies outside China, he may be saying this phrase even more in 2026.
Source: www.ft.com
Aleksei Andrievskii is the founder of the ANDRIEVSKII SEA WEALTH family office in Cyprus, a member of the advisory board at Bendura Bank AG, Liechtenstein