Highlights

• Webinar exposes China's 30-year vertical integration in rare earth ecosystem
• Requires $600 billion and potential new federal agency to challenge dominance
• Panel highlights Western complacency
• U.S. firms and political leaders' historical neglect of strategic rare earth dependencies
• Discussion emphasizes long-term geopolitical implications of rare earth trade tensions
• Need for urgent policy and investment action

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In the wake of intensifying rare earth trade tensions, the Asia Society Policy Institute’s webinar—“Behind Beijing’s Rare Earth Chokehold: The New Flash Point in U.S.-China Trade and Tech Tensions (opens in a new tab)”—hosted by Lizzi Lee and featuring Paul Triolo and Pascal Massé, attempts to demystify China’s strategic stranglehold on the global rare earth supply chain.

To its credit, the 38-minute episode does what few mainstream panels do: it addresses rare earths not just as a mining issue but as a full-spectrum industrial ecosystem, from mine to magnet to missile. Both Triolo and Massé shine when discussing China’s 30-year vertical integration, state-driven industrial policy, and technical training pipeline, offering a comprehensive view of why the U.S. and allies remain far behind. Their warnings are sobering: this is not a five-year problem, but a generational challenge, requiring, according to this group, up to $600 billion and a new U.S. federal agency to match China’s dominance.

The show mostly cuts through the noise, but not entirely.

What’s missing is a thorough examination of Western complacency. The panel sidesteps the fact that U.S. firms, such as General Motors and defense contractors, have long prioritized cheap Chinese magnets over domestic resilience.  What about political elites, past presidents who knew of the issue and did nothing? 

There is little discussion of how global investors, including sovereign wealth funds and major automakers, continue to funnel capital into Chinese-aligned supply chains, despite growing national security risks. Nor do they confront the elephant in the room: the political gridlock and permitting bottlenecks that cripple U.S. mining and processing projects before they start.  It’s easier for President Donald Trump to worry about mid-terms, kicking the can down the road, than planning for the next decade.

The conversation also overlooks the retail investment potential, which is critical for junior miners seeking non-institutional capital to scale their operations and break Chinese midstream dominance. Without retail buy-in, many promising Western projects will stall.

Additionally, the speakers clearly view China’s strategy with respect, even admiration—but they refrain from passing moral judgment, which keeps the discussion grounded and pragmatic. The fact that China has turned a quasi-monopoly into a geopolitical and economic weapon isn’t given much attention, the fundamental moral, ethical, and possibly even legal implications on the world scene.

In sum, DeepSeek Moment offers rare depth and accuracy, but more urgency is needed. As rare earths become a weapon in an escalating trade war, policymakers, investors, and the public must move beyond webinars and take action.

 For deeper insights and real-time supply chain data, follow REEx: Rare Earth Exchanges.  For a comparison of key companies upstream, see REEx Projects.

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