In the race against the US for global tech supremacy, China has the upper hand in at least one critical area: rare earths. AdvertisementFor more than a year, Beijing has slowly been tightening its grip on critical minerals and rare earths. Now, there are fears that China could tighten the global rare earths supply chain even more. China's rare earth dominanceChina has long dominated the rare earths market due to supply, low labor costs, and lax environmental standards. In 2022, the US Department of Defense awarded $45 million to MP Materials for rare earth oxide processing, and in 2023, it awarded over $288 million to Lynas USA to set up commercial-scale rare earth oxide production facilities.

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Persons: Deng Xiaoping, —, Rick Waters, Donald Trump's, Louise Loo, Zongyuan Zoe Liu, Chris Tang, Nick Vyas, USC Marshall's Randall R, Vyas, he's Organizations: European Union, World Trade Organization, US Department of Defense, Materials, US, White, Nvidia, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Oxford Economics, Greater China, Council, Foreign Relations, Soviet, Bloomberg, AMD, USC, Kendrick, Supply Chain Institute, Bureau of Industry, Security Locations: China, US, Beijing, Japan, USA, Eurasia, Washington, Taiwan, Greater, Soviet Union, North Korea, North Vietnam