\n The tussle over rare earths precedes the current administration; China for years<\/a> has built up near-total control of the minerals as part of its wider industrial policy<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n China\u2019s restrictions are also seen as a response to Trump\u2019s \u201creciprocal tariffs\u201d on Chinese goods announced in April. After agreeing on a trade truce in Geneva, US officials had expected China to ease export restrictions on those minerals.\n <\/p>\n \n Here\u2019s what you need to know about rare earths.\n <\/p>\n What are rare earths, and are they actually \u2018rare?\u2019<\/p>\n \n Rare earths include 17 metallic elements in the periodic table made up of scandium, yttrium and the lanthanides.\n <\/p>\n \n The name \u201crare earths\u201d is a bit of a misnomer, as the materials are found throughout the Earth\u2019s crust. They are more abundant than gold, but they are difficult and costly to extract and process and are also environmentally damaging<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n Rare earths are ubiquitous in everyday technologies, from smartphones to wind turbines to LED lights and flat-screen TVs. They\u2019re crucial for batteries in electric vehicles, as well as MRI scanners and cancer treatments.\n <\/p>\n \n Rare earths are also essential for the US military. They\u2019re used in F-35 fighter jets, submarines, lasers, satellites, Tomahawk missiles and more, according to a 2025 research note<\/a> from CSIS.\n <\/p>\n \n Sixty-one percent of mined rare earth production comes from China, according to the International Energy Agency, and the country controls 92%<\/a> of the global output in the processing stage.\n <\/p>\n \n There are two types of rare earths, categorized by their atomic weights: heavy and light. Heavy rare earths are more scarce, and the United States doesn\u2019t have the capability to separate rare earths after extraction.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cUntil the start of the year, whatever heavy rare earths we did mine in California, we still sent to China for separation,\u201d Gracelin Baskaran, director of the Critical Minerals Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told CNN.\n <\/p>\n \n However, the Trump administration\u2019s announcement of sky-high tariffs on China in April derailed this process. \u201cChina has shown a willingness to weaponize\u201d America\u2019s reliance on China for rare earth separation, she said.\n <\/p>\n \n The US has one operational rare earth mine in California, according to Baskaran.\n <\/p>\n \n Beijing is using rare earths as major leverage in the trade war, and its latest restrictions come as Xi and Trump are scheduled to meet at the APEC summit in South Korea later this month.\n <\/p>\n \n In its most recent move, China added five rare-earth elements<\/a> \u2013 holmium, erbium, thulium, europium, ytterbium, and related magnets and materials \u2013 to its existing control list, requiring export licenses. That makes the total amount of restricted rare earths to 12. China will also require licenses to export rare earth manufacturing technologies out of the country.\n <\/p>\n \n It\u2019s not the first time this year that Chinese restrictions on rare earths have angered Trump. In June, Trump said on Truth Social that China violated a trade truce<\/a> as Beijing kept its export controls on seven rare earth minerals and associated products.\n <\/p>\n \n The export controls could have a major impact, since the US is heavily reliant on China for rare earths. Between 2020 and 2023, 70% of US imports of rare earth compounds and metals came from the country, according to a US Geological Survey report<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n But it\u2019s China\u2019s latest restrictions that are seen as a dramatic escalation in Trump\u2019s trade war between the world\u2019s two biggest economic powers.\n <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/gettyimages-1148483597.jpg\")
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