It has threatened to limit the flow of rare earth elements. Beijing’s willingness to play the rare earth card speaks less to strength in this dispute than to its desperation. Despite their name, rare earth elements are not that rare. Rare earth elements are necessary for just about all batteries and are also used in much high-tech equipment in a broad array of industries. Rising prices for rare earth elements would also encourage smuggling, which would be easy, since rare earth elements, as essential as they are, are only used in small amounts.

Source: Forbes June 14, 2019 19:18 UTC