China Is Losing Its Rare-Earth Trade Leverage
US producers are breaking Beijing’s stranglehold on the market for critical elements.
MP Materials revived the US’s largest rare-earth mine in Mountain Pass, California.
Photographer: Joe Buglewicz/Bloomberg
It didn’t make much news when the South Korean company JS Link announced earlier this month that it would spend $223 million to build a permanent magnet plant in Georgia. It’s a relatively small investment, but it will help solve a critical supply-chain problem.
The magnets will be made from rare-earth elements, an industry dominated by China and used effectively as a trade weapon. The JS Link investment is just the latest project in a full-court press to rebuild a US-based mine-to-magnets supply chain for these small but crucial components. These rare-earth magnets are strong, remain magnetized for years and are found in myriad modern gadgets from phones to computers and autos to aircraft.