These are the necessary steps toward developing a research-and-development partnership among the private sector, government and academia to wrest control of the REE supply chain from China.

Efforts are underway in the U.S. to break China’s monopoly on the mining and processing of rare earth minerals, which are found in many high-tech products for consumer, industrial and military use. But it’s going to be a long haul to achieve that goal.

It's unrealistic to believe the U.S. can break China’s monopoly over the rare earth element market through private investment and the opening of new domestic mines.

The global pandemic has exposed the utter dependence of the U.S. and the world on China for critical equipment and raw materials.

American companies across the board are striving to reduce their dependence on China as a source of manufacturing, but one industry sector is especially keen to bring production back to the U.S.