Every time China tightens its grip on rare earths, the rest of the world becomes a little better at finding them.
Rare-earth permanent magnets — which help stick charging cables to laptops, clamp mobile phones to mounting devices, and click earbuds into their cases — have become a central battleground in China’s trade wars with its rivals. Beijing used export controls on the devices to force US President Donald Trump into a humiliating retreat on his Liberation Day tariffs last year. The same tactic is being deployed against Japan following a diplomatic spat with Tokyo.
