Asia Society Convenes U.S.-China Critical Minerals Panel on Rare Earths, Lithium and Permanent Magnets

Highlights

• Asia Society Northern California & Seattle will host a virtual panel on September 10, 2026 covering rare earths, lithium, and permanent magnets in U.S.-China competition.
• Experts warn that China's leverage stems from downstream processing, refining, and magnet manufacturing—not just mining—making separation capacity the real strategic bottleneck.
• Panelists include former NIST Director Walter Copan, Trivium China's Cory Combs, and Harvard Fairbank Center researcher Gloria Xiong.
• The discussion will address whether supply-chain resilience requires diversification rather than decoupling, with implications for investors tracking downstream industrial capacity.

Rare earths are no longer simply a mining story—they are now embedded in the strategic competition between the United States and China. On September 10, 2026, Asia Society Northern California & Seattle will host a virtual panel (opens in a new tab) examining China’s dominance across rare earths, lithium, permanent magnets, and other critical-mineral supply chains, and what the United States can realistically do to reduce its exposure.

The event, “Critical Minerals, Technology, and the Future of U.S.-China Competition,” runs from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Pacific Time and is the third installment of Asia Society’s Seeking Truth Through Facts series.

REEx Insight: The Bottleneck Is Bigger Than the Mine

The panel lands at the center of the most important misunderstanding in Western critical-minerals policy: resource ownership does not equal supply-chain security. China’s leverage comes not simply from mines, but from decades of investment in separation, refining, metals, alloys, battery materials, and especially permanent-magnet manufacturing. The central strategic question therefore is not whether the United States can discover more deposits. It is whether America and its allies can build commercially competitive, qualified downstream capacity—and do so quickly enough to withstand potential Chinese export restrictions.

That distinction makes this discussion especially relevant to investors watching the transition from exploration stories to functioning industrial supply chains.

Four Perspectives on China’s Leverage

The panel features Mark Cohen, Senior Tech Fellow at Asia Society Northern California & Seattle, whose work spans China, intellectual property, and technology competition; Dr. Walter G. Copan, former U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce and NIST Director, now Emeritus Vice President at Colorado School of Mines; Cory Combs, Associate Director at Trivium China, specializing in Chinese economic strategy and critical-mineral supply chains; and Gloria Xiong, Assistant Professor at Colby College and Harvard Fairbank Center research associate, whose work focuses on Chinese economic statecraft and coercion.

Discussion will cover critical minerals, technology, trade, industrial policy, mining innovation, and whether genuine supply-chain resilience requires diversification rather than simple decoupling.

REEx Connect

Organizer: Asia Society Northern California & Seattle Date: September 10, 2026 Time: 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. PT Format: Virtual Speakers: Mark Cohen; Walter G. Copan; Cory Combs; Gloria Xiong Registration: Required; complimentary for members and ticketed for nonmembers. Follow the link (opens in a new tab).