"Digging in on rare earth, the next front in the US supply chain war with China"

Letting China take over the world's pharmaceutical and medical manufacturing over the last 25 years was pretty damn stupid.
Ditto for rare earth supply/
The stuff is everywhere, Vietnam's undeveloped rare earth resource base is tied with Brazil for #2 in the world (combined they match China).
The risk Vietnam poses to China's lock on rare earth prices  has suddenly gotten very interesting.
It has to be developed though.

From the South China Morning Post, July 10:

• US scrambling to close the gap with China, which dominates the mining and refining of these essential materials for hi-tech military and consumer products
• The drive to develop in US taps Donald Trump’s themes of reviving extractive industries and ‘reshoring’ American jobs

As US-China relations hit new lows, Washington is redoubling efforts to address a major Achilles’ heel: its dependence on Beijing for rare earth elements – essential materials in various hi-tech products from smartphones and electric car batteries to Javelin missiles and F-35 fighter aircraft.

China hawk Ted Cruz, a Republican senator from Texas, recently introduced a bill to spur US production of critical minerals, among the latest of several before Congress amid rising concern that China could leverage its dominance in economic and political negotiations.

“It’s making people in Washington wake up and say this is not sustainable,” said Martijn Rasser, a fellow at the Centre for a New American Security. “If China really is willing to restrict exports, we’re in for a rough ride over the next few years.”

But China’s strategic-metals grip is so strong and the challenges in competing against its state-led model so great that some estimate it could take over a decade to create a relatively secure US supply chain. The US has also made some significant missteps that haven’t helped, critics say....

....MUCH MORE

As noted in January's "The Voyage of The (not so) Good Ship Columbus":

Speaking of having your military realize they are completely dependent on foreign suppliers for critical materials:
Reuters, December 19, 2019

Exclusive: Pentagon to stockpile rare earth magnets for missiles, fighter jets

Uh, ummmm....you mean they hadn't been doing that all along?
Are you saying that the U.S. military was depending on just-in-time inventory from China?
Say what?

It took until 2017 for the U.S. to even do an inventory of stuff you need if you have to fight a modern war:
Following Trump's Executive Order on Critical Minerals the Interior Department Begins First Ever National Survey of Same

Two years after that "Oh shit" moment we see:
"Trump, Trudeau seek collaboration on 'critical minerals': White House"
"United States aims to reshape the critical minerals world"