Bloomberg article.... The U.S. government is scouring the country and elsewhere for potential rare earths reserves to wean the nation off its dependence on Chinese imports of minerals used to make missiles and cellphones.
“We’ve been almost 100% dependent on foreign sources of rare earth elements for industrial applications,” Jim Reilly, director of the U.S. Geological Survey, said. “It’s not only the domestic sources of the resource that we concentrate on. We look for those resources literally across the globe, and then we build collaboration with our partners.”
China supplied about 80% of U.S. rare earths imports in the three years ended 2018, leaving Washington vulnerable had Beijing weaponized the critical minerals at the height of trade war between the countries. While the signing of a phase-one deal eased tensions, the Trump administration remains determined to boost domestic output and seek alternative suppliers.
The U.S. is also in search of “friendly” sources of rare earths overseas that the government could collaborate with in securing the material, Reilly saidin an interview.