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It was really just a matter of time before more mines reopened. Rare earth materials are anything but rare, and are found all over. The only reason we stopped producing them was because they were so dirt cheap from China. They raise prices and constrict supply? Ok. The mines reopen.
It's interesting to note that in this case, letting the market decide the price is a strategic liability that is costing the US jobs, and US companies untold millions (billions?) in stolen IP as China uses government policy to use rare earth minerals as incentives to have our firms move their manufacturing to China.
- Foreign companies buying rare earths from China must now pay more than twice the rate paid by companies inside China. The tiered pricing encourages companies to move factories and jobs to China, where they can be sure of supply and lower prices.
The US agricultural subsidies are pretty bad, but China makes a mockery of the WTO. The WTO doesn't seem very effective at maintaining practice of its principles.
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sounds_sound · 4673 days ago · link ·
Other countries are clearly not very happy with China's abuse of WTO principles. But it sounds like the same old story to me: China will only act when others make good on their threats, but until then...
sounds_sound · 4674 days ago · link ·
Cleaner than the Chinese, but still pretty dirty. That 90 acre pit made to contain the "sludge of unwanted residue" will be a landmark for centuries to come. I didn't really know that the U.S. had such a wealth of rare earth. I only thought it was produced in China because it is rare. Frankly, I'm happy to see a mine in California renovated and reopened.
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Yeah, it's funny how common rare earth minerals are. I imagine the term rare is used to reflect the amount of processing it takes to get them. I believe they are abundant in many many places, just in low quantities that require a lot of work to extract them.