Will China Use Rare Earth Metals as a Weapon in a New Trade War?

Most countries have, for many decades, kept a record of their own critical minerals list. For example, the U.S., drew up a list of “war minerals” during World War I, containing important minerals which could not be found and produced in abundance domestically. They included: tin, nickel, platinum, nitrates and potash. Since then, as the economy has grown and innovated, critical mineral lists have expanded considerably. The Energy Act of 2020 defines a critical mineral as: “A non-fuel mineral or mineral material essential to the…