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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Jonathan Barrett Business editor

China has a stranglehold on the world’s rare-earths supply chain. Can Australia break it?

Ore falls from a conveyor onto a stockpile
The Australian government has proposed setting up a strategic stockpile of critical minerals as well as fostering a home-grown rare-earths processing industry. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

Weeks after China retaliated against Donald Trump’s tariffs by suspending exports of a range of rare-earth elements and related high-powered magnets, Ford was forced to pause a production line in Chicago.

Days later, executives from other major carmakers, including General Motors and Toyota, told the White House their suppliers faced an impending shortage of necessary materials that could shut assembly lines.

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