US media: It will take "many, many years" for the US to step up efforts to get rid of its dependence on rare earths from China

The U.S. government is stepping up efforts to gain access to minerals vital to modern technology but whose supply is dominated by China, with mining companies warning the "monopoly" could take years to break.

According to the Wall Street Journal website on October 5, in recent years, the United States and other Western countries have invested in projects and approved licenses to mine these resources, which are essential for the production of electric vehicles, mobile phones and wind turbines. Given that these countries still lag far behind China, they are speeding up.

Last week, President Trump signed an executive order declaring a national emergency and authorizing the use of the Defense Production Act to speed up the development of mineral resources. The law was used earlier this year to speed up the production of medical supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report also said that on Monday, Ireland-based Technology Metals said the state-funded U.S. International Development Finance Corporation had invested $25 million in the company's project to produce and recycle battery metal materials such as nickel and cobalt.

Miners and analysts welcomed the moves but warned it would take about a decade to open a mine and for Western countries to develop the capacity to process the resources into materials for final products.

“Especially to change China’s overwhelming dominance of rare earths, this is a process that will take many, many years. There are no shortcuts,” said Brian Mennell, CEO of Technology Metals.

The report pointed out that rare earth elements used in batteries and electronic devices are one of the 35 minerals that the US government considers to be critical to economic and national security. The United States said that 80% of its rare earth elements are imported directly from China, and further supply comes indirectly from China. Among these 35 critical minerals, 14 are not produced in the United States.

These include gallium, an element used in light-emitting diodes and semiconductors in cell phones. Critical minerals are also used in less high-tech sectors. China supplies half of the United States' barite, which is used in the hydraulic fracturing technology that has revolutionized American oil production.

The report also noted that China's dominance in many of these minerals is already established because they are abundant in China.

The report noted that until the 1980s, the United States was the world's largest producer of rare earths and had created rare earth processing technology, but now the United States has only one rare earth production mine, the Mountain Pass rare earth mine in California, and no processing plants.

David Henderson, founder of consulting firm Rittenhouse International Resources, said the United States now lacks expertise in the field and needs to work with allies such as Australia and Canada to catch up.

Even if they can mine these minerals, China still dominates the entire supply chain, said Jack Lifton, another consultant who has worked for the U.S. government. To make magnets, for example, rare earths must be mined, extracted from ores, separated into individual elements, and then turned into magnetic metals to make magnets. He said Chinese companies can complete every stage of this process, sometimes in the same company, while only one company abroad can do it - Canada's New Performance Materials.

Trump's executive order calls for an assessment of the United States' reliance on China for key minerals and says the government can provide grants and loans to start production and processing. The order also says tariffs and quotas may be imposed on imports from China.

The report also stated, however, that for nearly 20 years, the US government has been concerned about China's dominance and hoped to catch up, but with little progress.