China’s Strengthening Position on Rare Earths

For a time, there was a lull in the focus on rare earth elements (REEs) as a strategic resource. Investments by rare earth mining companies in the U.S. and Australia, among others, increased and there was a renewed effort by states to compete against China’s near-monopoly hold on production of the strategic resource, critical for the manufacture of high-tech goods and defense technology, amongst other applications. Yet recent developments indicate that China’s dominance of the rare earth supply chain is set to strengthen.