President Biden s sweeping $2 trillion infrastructure legislation seeks to remake the power and transportation markets in the U.S. and rebuild the country s semiconductor industry. It follows Biden signing an executive order in February designed to review gaps in the domestic supply chains for rare earths, medical devices, chips and other key resources, and in March the Department of Energy announcing a $30 million initiative that will tap into researching and securing the U.S. domestic supply chain for rare earths and other important minerals in battery-making such as cobalt and lithium. Cornering of the market It s absolutely correct there is a cornering of the market with lithium and other rare earths, Biden climate envoy John Kerry recently said at a CNBC Evolve summit on the future of energy innovation.
The New U S Plan to Rival China and End Cornering of Market in Rare Earth Metals nbcmiami.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nbcmiami.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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One company sees a business opportunity in the United States s reliance on China for rare earth elements, such as dysprosium, terbium, and yttrium, crucial for the proper functioning of night vision goggles and wind turbines, among scores of other kinds of important hardware.
There are 17 metals called rare earth elements, also referred to as REEs. China has dominated the rare earth market for years and accounts for about 80% of U.S. imports of rare earth metals and compounds. Demand for the metals is only growing as clean energy products such as wind turbines and electric cars, which use the metals, become more popular.
(Feb 2): The U.S. Department of Defense on Monday said it has awarded $30.4 million to Australia s Lynas Rare Earths Ltd to build a Texas facility for processing specialized minerals used to make weapons, electronics and other goods.
China is the world s largest producer of rare earth minerals and has threatened to stop their export to the United States, fueling a push inside the U.S. government to boost domestic production.
The Pentagon s award will fund construction of a facility to process so-called light rare earths, the most-common type of rare earths, commonly found in consumer goods such as cellular phones.