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In the trade war between the United States and China, the biggest sticking point is a handful of metals that are essential to the United States and almost entirely under the control of China.
The problem is, China has now cut off America’s access to those metals, threatening American industry and the U.S. military. Keith Bradsher explains how the United States became so dependent on China for these metals in the first place, and just how hard it will be to live without them.
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On today’s episode
Keith Bradsher, the Beijing bureau chief for The New York Times.
Background reading
China produces the entire world’s supply of samarium, a rare earth metal that the United States and its allies need to rebuild inventories of fighter jets, missiles and other hardware.
What to know about China’s halting of rare earth exports.
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