Proposal: Allied Market Shield to Break China's Critical-Mineral Leverage

Highlights

• Joris Teer's CFR report calls for allied tariffs, procurement rules and stockpiling to create a protected non-China critical minerals market
• REEx argues demand protection alone cannot create technical capability—metallization, separation chemistry and magnet manufacturing remain major Western bottlenecks
• China controlled roughly 90% of refined magnet rare earths and sintered permanent magnets in 2025, giving it deep leverage across batteries, chemicals and semiconductors
• The IEA warns that announced diversified mining capacity by 2035 exceeds 50 kt, but metals, alloys and finished-magnet projects total only around 18 kt
• REEx concludes the West must replicate China's full industrial ecosystem—mine through qualified component—not merely shield producers from distorted prices