The Guardian view on rare earths: it’s common sense to secure essential supply chains | Editorial

Outsourcing the industry to China cannot continue, but Europe knows it can no longer count on the US for a solution The alarm sounded 16 years ago. In 2010, China blocked exports of key rare earths to Japan in a row over disputed islands in the East China Sea. The critical minerals are essential to everything from advanced weaponry and iPhones to electric vehicle batteries and wind turbines, so the rest of the world took note. But it didn’t take much action. China still accounts for about 70% of rare-earth mining globally and 90% of separation and processing. Then, last year, Beijing forced Donald Trump to back away from his trade war – not with its retaliatory tariffs, but the curbing of rare-earth exports. A scramble for new supplies began in earnest. The year-long trade truce is due to expire in November. The price of erbium, an element essential to communications infrastructure, has already jumped because of fears that export controls will soon be renewed. The 17 metals known as rare earths are far from rare; their name refers to the low concentrations in which they are found. Extraction and processing are costly, complex and often dirty, while returns are low. That’s why