Refined tellurium is displayed at the Rio Tinto Kennecott refinery, May 11, 2022, in Magna, Utah. Rick Bowmer/AP
Rick Bowmer/AP
In an escalation of his dispute with global trade partners, President Trump called for the Commerce Department to look at possible security risks from America’s reliance on imported “rare earth minerals.”
These are a group of 17 metallic elements that are difficult to extract from the earth, but are crucial for U.S. defense. The ask comes after China curbed exports of some of those minerals as part of its retaliation against American tariffs.
China dominates the rare earth mineral market,