President Donald Trump has recently signaled his intent to impose an additional 100% tariff on Chinese goods due to Beijing’s sweeping restrictions on rare earth minerals. This escalation highlights that the trade conflict between these two nations is far from settled.

At the heart of the current dispute are rare earth minerals—a crucial group of 17 elements vital to our digital economy and national security. They are indispensable in everything from electric vehicles to smartphones to fighter jets and missiles. The Chinese Communist Party has aggressively pursued dominance in this market, using substantial financial subsidies and often neglecting the significant environmental impacts associated with mining and processing. Consequently, China now commands nearly 70% of global rare earth production and processes around 90% of the world’s rare earth elements.

Despite what the name implies, most rare earth elements are not actually rare in nature. The United States once led the world in the production of rare earth minerals, utilizing both its technological capabilities and rich deposits to dominate the market. However, increasingly stringent environmental regulations raised operational and compliance costs for American mining companies. As a result, many were unable to compete with low-cost Chinese competitors and exited the sector entirely. This shift has left American businesses dependent on rare earth supplies vulnerable to the whims........

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