Will the US’ onshoring strategy remove China’s chokehold on REEs?

Rare world elements (REEs) – a radical of 17 metals economically found successful bastnaesite, monazite, loparite and lateritic ion-adsorption clays – featured heavily in commercialized relations during the archetypal twelvemonth of Donald Trumps’ second word arsenic US president.

Soon after he was sworn in last January, the minerals, which are important to the US system and defence, but of which roughly 70% is mined and 90% processed in China, took centre signifier in an ongoing trade war between the countries, ultimately restricting the US’ access to its supply and related technology.

While experts and industry have been raising the alarm astir the US’– and more broadly, the West’s – overreliance connected China’s REEs for decades, last year’s developments appeared to spur renewed vigour in the US government’s intentions to antagonistic China’s dominance of the market.

In a astonishment move in July 2025, the Trump administration became the largest shareholder of the US’ only active REE miner, MP Materials, announced $134m in funds for home projects and began bolstering proviso chains by securing entree done partners successful Australia, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand.

The moves appear to be having an initial impact. A recent Reuters analysis of International Energy Agency information suggests that a multi-billion-dollar pipeline of uncommon world projects astir the world, including connected US soil, is acceptable to partially wean the US off Chinese uncommon earths. While China would inactive supply roughly 60% of the world's cardinal magnet-making rare earths, including Neodymium, Praseodymium, Dysprosium and Terbium, by 2030, the US is connected people to conscionable astir 95% of its ain demand domestically.

However, determination is simply a big caveat to these affirmative projections; they presume today's pipeline of projects are built and scaled connected schedule – thing experts are sceptical the US will achieve in this timeframe.

At the centre of US efforts is MP Material’s Mountain Pass mine, the largest REE mine successful the US. Since late 2023 the excavation has produced, separated and refined praseodymium-neodymium oxide, cerium chloride, lanthanum carbonate and its dense uncommon world concentrate, containing a assortment of medium and dense uncommon world elements which it sells only to customers extracurricular of China since the Chinese tariffs imposed past year.