Donald Trump’s desired rare earth minerals that he wants to protect from Ukraine as part of US support is a strategic metal that is essential for industries that develop computer, battery, and state -of -the -art energy technology.
What are rare earths, and are they rare?
Dysprosium, NEODYMIUM, CERIUM, and other names are the 17 heavy metal groups that are actually abundant on the global crusts around the world.
In the 2024 evaluation, the US Geological Survey estimated that there were 110 million tons of deposits worldwide, including 44 million people in China, the world’s largest producer.
In Brazil, 22m tons are also estimated, 21 meters in Vietnam, 10 million tons in Russia and 7 million tons in India.
However, mining metal requires the use of heavy chemicals that bring a large amount of toxic waste, causing several environmental disasters, and many countries are in charge of a considerable cost for production. I am vigilant.
And they are often found at microtite concentration. In other words, it is often necessary to process a large number of rocks to produce sophisticated products in the form of powder.
Why does Trump want them?
The 17 rares are used in industries, and they can be found in various daily and high -tech devices, from light bulbs to missiles with guided guides.
EUROPIUM is important for the TV screen, the cerium is used for polishing glass and purified oil, and LANTHANUM operates the car catalytic converter. The list of modern economies is virtually infinite.
And all have a unique property that can be replaced most irreplaceable or only at exorbitant costs.
For example, neodymium and dysprosium enable the production of almost permanent super -strong magnets that require almost maintenance, enabling marine wind turbine arrangement to generate power far from the coastline.
Mr. Trump said on Monday that Kiev would give Kiev guaranteeing the supply of rare soil in return for the US’s assistance in the United States, the idea of President Ukraine last year by President Ukraine Voldimia Zerenkyy.
Where are most of the current rare earth supply of the world coming from?
For decades, China has often used the rare earth protection areas by investing in sophisticated operations without the strict environmental monitoring in western countries.
China has also submitted a huge number of patents on rare earth production. This is an obstacle to companies in other countries that want to start large -scale processing.
As a result, the amount of reserves of rare earths is abundant elsewhere, but many companies are cheaper to ship unprocessed ore to China for refining, further strengthening the world’s trust.
The United States and the EU have gained most of the supply from China, but both are trying to recycle what they use to reduce their production and reduce their dependence on Beijing.
During the US -China trade dispute in 2019, Chinese state -owned media suggested that rare earth exports to the United States could be reduced by retaliation for US measures. Japan directly saw cut -off pain in 2010, when China stopped exporting rare earths through territorial dispute.
Since then, Tokyo has strongly pushed the diversification of supplies and signed a contract with Australian Group Linus for production from Malaysia.
How is they different from “critical minerals”?
Rise earth is one of the elements specified as an important US mineral, but not the whole list.
Among the measures announced by Beijing in response to US tariffs on Chinese products, there are exports of exports to specific important minerals, but not a rare earth.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce and its customs bureau have stated that exports are imposed on tungsten, terrillium, bismas, molybdenum, and indium to protect national security.
Tungsten, Tellurium, Bismuth, and Indium are designated as important minerals through US geological surveys. This is an essential material for advanced technology, clean energy, and national security.
