The Glossary
Rare Earths & Critical Minerals
China's counterweight to chip controls: export licensing over ~80% of key refining.
Definition
Rare-earth elements — plus gallium, germanium and graphite — are inputs to magnets, motors, munitions and semiconductors, and China refines the majority of several of them. A 2012 WTO case forced China to drop export quotas; a decade later, licensing regimes replaced quotas and proved harder to litigate. In 2025, rare-earth license slowdowns against U.S. buyers triggered the June London framework, and the Busan Agreement suspended China's newest controls for a year as its central concession.
Why it matters
Minerals are the clearest asymmetric leverage in the relationship: harder to replace quickly than soybeans, more politically survivable to weaponize than chips.