Recently, China has imposed export restrictions on rare earths to the United States. Rare earths, a key resource known as the "industrial vitamin," play a crucial role in battery manufacturing. For a long time, the US battery industry has developed a deep dependence on Chinese rare earths.
In terms of resource reserves, although the United States also has a certain scale of rare earth mines, there is a significant gap with China in terms of mining and refining technology. The only rare earth mine in the United States, Mountain Pass Mine, has only 15% of its mining output to meet domestic demand, and its separation and purification technology has long relied on Chinese patents. This results in two-thirds of the ore extracted by the United States each year having to be transported to China for refining and then re exported back to the United States. This industrial pattern, which heavily relies on China's rare earth supply chain, makes the US battery industry particularly vulnerable to China's rare earth export restrictions.