Rare Earths: Why the World Can’t Quit China

At the heart of the global effort to break free from Chinese control over critical minerals lies a difficult choice: rely on allies or go it alone. For years, Western governments have tried to reduce their dependence on China for rare earths—the metals used in everything from smartphones to electric vehicles and military equipment. The two main strategies have been "friendshoring," or buying from trusted allies, and "strategic autonomy," which means building domestic supply chains from scratch. Yet both approaches have struggled to deliver results. The tension between these two goals has slowed progress, leaving many nations still heavily reliant on Chinese exports. The core problem is simple. Friendshoring requires deep cooperation and shared standards, which takes time and political will. Strategic autonomy demands massive investment and years of building new mines and processing plants. Meanwhile, China controls a large share of the global supply chain, from mining to refining, giving it a significant cost and scale advantage. As a result, the world’s hedging strategies have not yet succeeded in creating a reliable alternative. Until the gap between these two approaches is closed, China’s dominance in this critical sector is likely to remain.