California miners have been warning Congress about China’s ever-tightening grip on rare earth minerals needed for national defense for years, and now they’ve taken their message to the White House.

China’s exports of two key minerals, germanium and antimony, have fallen sharply, despite its rare earths exports rebound sharply after reaching a trade deal with the United States.

Rare Earth Mining, Refining, and Magnet Production Because rare earth minerals and magnets are defense-critical, the United States is moving aggressively to dismantle China's near-monopoly on their extraction and manufacturing.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce placed 10 American industrial suppliers—including rare-earth miners MP Materials Corp. and USA Rare Earth, as well as drone makers Teal Drones and Jaia Robotics—on its export control list, barring exports of any dual-use

The Chinese ships then collected rare-earth minerals and specimens of rare deep sea creatures, according to the report.

At the time, China relaxed its rare earth oxide export rules and flooded the market with minerals, sending prices falling.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng are tackling tariffs, artificial intelligence, and rare-earth minerals. President Donald Trump unveiled a new AI Force—and plans to appoint an AI czar.

The pact is the latest move by the Trump administration to build an independent supply chain for critical minerals and rare-earth metals vital for the high-tech industry, clean energy systems, and defense applications.

China alone produced 270,000 tons of rare earth minerals in 2024, a 5.9 percent increase from 255,000 tons in 2023.

Greenland Mines is developing a rare-earth neodymium and praseodymium project that could reduce the Western Hemisphere’s dependence on China for the magnet rare-earth minerals.

Commentary China controls the flow of heavy rare earths out of eastern Burma’s (also known as Myanmar) Shan State, the same minerals Washington is now seeking to access.

Rare Earth Dilemma Eldridge said Beijing could approve selected civilian rare earth shipments to Japan following Iwaya’s trip, while keeping its curbs in place.

Beijing has imposed export controls on several critical minerals, including gallium, germanium, graphite, and rare earths. The U.S.

earth minerals.

Gareth Hatch, who founded Toronto-based processor Innovation Metals Corp. in 2011, said mining rare earth minerals has many challenges.

Samples of rare earth minerals from left: Cerium oxide, Bastnaesite, Neodymium oxide, and Lanthanum carbonate at Molycorp's Mountain Pass Rare Earth facility in Mountain Pass, Calif., on June 29, 2015.

USA Rare Earth expects to begin commercial mining operations at its Round Top rare-earth minerals mine in Hudspeth County, Texas, by 2028.

the markets and manipulate prices of rare-earth minerals.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry announced new export restrictions on 10 U.S. rare earth minerals and defense companies after the Pentagon on June 8 flagged several Chinese companies it believed were aiding the Chinese military.

China has about 70 percent of all rare-earth minerals on the planet and upward of 80 percent of rare-earth mineral processing.

A Yale study from Dec. 2 found there are no replacements for many of the rare earth minerals.

The talks are also expected to touch on Brazil's rare earth mineral reserves. Dutch officials say that dozens of passengers left the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius cruise ship on April 24.

Rare Earths: China's Weapon of Choice Beijing’s use of rare-earth minerals as a blunt object with which to hammer those nations that it disagrees with is a well-understood fact.

Rare earths are essential for electronics, fighter jets, and more.

A trade deal was then reached in May, and issues around the shipment of the rare earth minerals and magnets were resolved in June.

Under its accelerated mining plan, USA Rare Earth said it expects that by 2030, "it will extract from Round Top approximately 40,000 metric tons per day of rare earth and critical mineral feedstock."

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said China's latest move on rare earth minerals export controls offers clear "signs of decoupling."

Topping the agenda were the Iran war, China, and rare earth minerals. We have the key takeaways.

The Pentagon is becoming the top stakeholder in the United States' largest rare earths miner. This deal is a key step toward securing America's rare earths supply amid challenges from China.

This is due to China imposing new export license rules for rare earth minerals and magnets.