Can the U.S. get around China's restrictions on rare earth minerals?

Marketplace Tech

American Public Media

Technology, News

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 16 April 2025

⏱️ 9 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

China is responsible for most of the world’s processing of rare earth metals and minerals, but its new export restrictions have raised the stakes for U.S. efforts to build its own supply chain and processing industry. Barbara Arnold, a professor of mining engineering at Penn State, says there are options, but they require time, development and investment.

Transcript

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1:01.0	They're called rare earths, but how rare are they really? From American Public Media, this is Marketplace Tech.
1:09.3	I'm Megan McCarty Carrino.
1:27.1	Earlier this month, China placed new export restrictions on several rare earth minerals and metals, largely as a response to the Trump
1:29.7	administration's tariff increases on Chinese goods. These rare earth elements make up, among other
1:36.1	things, magnets, which, it turns out, are an important component in a wide array of products,
1:42.3	from consumer electronics and military aerospace technology
1:46.6	to electric vehicles and wind turbines. The Chinese government has reportedly paused exports
1:53.3	while it figures out a new licensing system to approve or deny U.S. companies and individuals
	...

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