The United States will take "unprecedented actions" to ensure the supply of rare earth minerals, US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said on Tuesday. Last week, China, the world's leading producer of rare earths, threatened to stop exporting the minerals to the US as the trade war between the two countries rages on.
"The assured supply of critical minerals and the resiliency of their supply chains are essential to the economic prosperity and national defense of the United States," the US Department of Commerce said in a report requested last year by President Donald Trump. The report outlines the steps necessary in order to ensure supply of the critical minerals in the US.
China dropped rare earth element quotas in 2015 after it lost a trade dispute at the World Trade Organization (WTO), which was filed by the US, the European Union, and Japan. Rare earth elements are used in technological devices and in the production of national defense equipment.
