Miner work at the Bayan Obo mine that contains rare earth minerals, Inner Mongolia, China, 16 July 2011. (Reuters)

China has threatened to ban the export of rare earth elements (REE) in response to the US-imposed sanctions on advanced semiconductor technologies to Beijing, according to UnHerd.

The effects of the ban could be detrimental to the US economy if it were to be implemented.

REEs are used in a large array of high-tech products including wind turbines, hard drives, electric vehicles, and smartphones. The US military is also highly dependent on these materials to produce its hardware and machinery. The production of an F-35 fighter jet, for example, requires 417kg of rare metals.

China is one of the largest extractors of ready-for-use REEs. The Chinese sector accounts for 60% of rare earth mining globally, 85% of rare earth processing, and 90% of the high-strength permanent magnets industry.

This might reignite the debate about the environmental ramifications caused by the processing of REEs, as China’s threats were speculated to push Western countries to look for alternative suppliers of such elements.

If the Chinese threats are implemented, the prices of REEs and the products that utilize them are expected to increase, and if the policy is applied, supply chains are expected to be disrupted and prices of production will soar as well.

In December 2022, the feud between the US and China culminated in Beijing filing a case with the World Trade Organization, hitting back against US export sanctions on microchips.