China Holds the World Hostage in Rare Earth Metals
China was smart enough to foresee the importance rare earth metals would assume both in civilian life and military as early as 1960s. This enabled them to flood the market with super-cheap rare earths thereby driving everybody else out of business.
Tanuj Khosla
June 6, 2011
Neodymium is displayed at the Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-Earth Hi-Tech Co. factory in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, China, on Wednesday, May 5, 2010. A generation after Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping made mastering neodymium and 16 other elements known as rare-earths a priority, China has cornered the market, with far-reaching effects ranging from job losses and global trade to U.S. national security. Photographer: Nelson Ching/Bloomberg
Nelson Ching/Bloomberg
