The order, which tells Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to investigate the matter under the President's Section 232 authority derived from the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, describes rare earth processing countries (which is pretty much China at this point) as having engaged in "widespread price manipulation, overcapacity, arbitrary export restrictions, and the exploitation of their supply chain dominance," and tells Secretary Lutnick to figure out how to stabilize the supply chain in America's favor. As we noted Tuesday, the US is already on the back foot when it comes to its need for rare earths and China's dominance of their extraction and processing, and threatening tariffs on the import of such critical minerals is unlikely to help the situation. Given the criticality of rare earths, the expanding rift between China and the US, and likely even more tariffs on the horizon, the list of paths out of this sticky situation is growing shorter by the minute.
Author: Brandon Vigliarolo
Published at: 2025-04-16 22:53:55
Still want to read the full version? Full article
