China Has REE Plan Ready If Trade War Deepenshttps://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-31/china-has-a-rare-earths-plan-ready-to-go-if-trade-war-deepens Beijing has readied a plan to restrict exports of rare earths to the U.S. if needed, as both sides in the trade war dig in for a protracted dispute, according to people familiar with the matter.
The government has prepared the steps it will take to use its stranglehold on the critical minerals in a targeted way to hurt the U.S. economy, the people said.
The measures would likely focus on heavy rare earths, a sub-group of the materials where the U.S. is p articularly reliant on China.
For heavy rare earths, “China definitely dominates supplies, and if China abandons those exports, I don’t think the U.S. can find alternatives,” SMM’s Hu said.
Dysprosium may be one of the more critical elements because of its use in permanent magnets, he said.