By Luke and Janet Huang, Vision Times
The U.S. is intensifying its campaign to reduce China’s grip on the global rare earth market by backing the creation of an independent pricing system aimed at attracting domestic investment and fortifying supply chains.
China currently accounts for about 90 percent of the world’s rare earth supply. However, its long-standing practice of undercutting global prices has discouraged other countries from developing their own rare earth industries.
For years, Western mining firms have advocated for a pricing mechanism insulated from China’s influence to foster a more competitive landscape. Rare earth elements, a group of 17 metals, are indispensable in manufacturing high-performance magnets used in advanced technologies like drones, fighter jets, electric vehicles, and wind turbines.
Scaling up
In a major step forward, the U.S. Department of Defense recently announced a pricing support plan for MP Materials (NYSE: MP), the country’s only rare earth miner. The government will guarantee a rate of $110 per kilogram—more than double current Chinese prices. The Las Vegas-based company stated its magnet manufacturing facility in Texas is expected to launch commercial production by year’s end. This pricing guarantee is intended to secure the economic sustainability of domestic rare earth production.
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Ryan Castilloux, Managing Director of consulting firm Adamas Intelligence, noted: “This benchmark is now a new centre of gravity in the industry that will pull prices up.” He added that other firms, including Belgian chemical giant Solvay (SOLB.BR), could benefit from the ripple effects of the new pricing framework.
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MP Materials plans to increase output at its Texas facility from 1,000 to 3,000 tons annually, and eventually build a second facility to bring total capacity to 10,000 tons — roughly equal to U.S. magnet consumption in 2024. Still, Adamas warns that another 30,000 tons of magnets are imported as finished products, a gap not yet addressed by current production plans.
David Merriman, analyst at Project Blue, pointed out that the market price for NdPr (Neodymium-Praseodymium) — the essential raw material for permanent magnets — is about $63 per kilogram. The new target pricing is between $75 and $105 per kilogram. While the $110/kg floor set by the Defense Department could reshape the market, it remains uncertain whether private-sector buyers will respond with increased investment.
“Major non-government-backed consumers are less likely to follow this same investment pattern,” said Merriman.
Volkswagen (VOWG.DE) declined to comment directly, but a company spokesperson said: “We take our responsibility for sustainable procurement of raw materials very seriously and are continuously working with indirect suppliers in upstream supply chains — where the challenge is greatest.”
New battleground in rare earth supply
Beyond mining, a new front is opening in the rare earth race: recycling. As tensions grow between the U.S. and China over access to critical materials, electronic waste (e-waste) recycling is gaining traction as a viable alternative. CNBC reports that e-waste is becoming a key strategic source of rare earth elements.
More than just gold, copper, and aluminum, electronic waste contains valuable rare earths like neodymium (Nd), praseodymium (Pr), terbium (Tb), and dysprosium (Dy) — elements used in high-tech defense and consumer goods, including power tools, aircraft, and electronics.
Kunal Sinha, Global Head of Recycling at Glencore, acknowledged that e-waste recycling is only now being recognized for its strategic value. “Recycling [of e-waste] hasn’t been taken too seriously until recently as a meaningful source of supply,” noted Sinha, adding, “A lot of people are still sleeping at the wheel and don’t realize how big this can be.”
Glencore has operated one of the world’s largest e-waste recycling centers since the 1980s at its copper smelter in Quebec, Canada. Now, amid global supply chain anxieties, recycling is emerging as a crucial part of U.S. efforts to reduce reliance on foreign imports. Rising tariffs and geopolitical uncertainty have renewed interest in building out domestic recycling infrastructure.
John Mitchell, President of the Global Electronics Association, emphasized the scale of imported electronics in the U.S., all of which contain recoverable metals. “A side effect of tariffs could be an increase in industry circularity and the associated recycling of materials and components to enable domestic electronics manufacturing,” noted Mitchell.
Though recycling currently makes up only a fraction of Glencore’s nearly $14 billion in profits, Sinha said it’s on the radar. “We believe that a lot of mining is necessary to get to all the copper, gold and other metals that are needed,” said Sinha, adding, “But we also recognize that recycling is going to play a huge role.”
US-China competition heats up
As demand for rare earth elements surges, e-waste recycling is being reimagined as a key tool in strengthening domestic supply chains. A joint report by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) found the world generated 62 million metric tons of e-waste in 2022 — an 82 percent increase since 2010. That figure is expected to reach 82 million tons by 2030.
In 2022, the U.S. alone produced nearly 8 million tons of e-waste. Yet, only 15 to 20 percent was properly recycled, suggesting a vast opportunity that remains untapped.
According to IBISWorld, the U.S. e-waste recycling industry is projected to generate $28.1 billion in revenue in 2024, with an annual growth rate of around 8 percent. Companies such as Sims, Electronic Recyclers, and Full Circle Electronics are expanding rapidly to meet growing demand for secure electronics disposal and materials recovery.
Dave Daily, CEO of Full Circle Electronics, said his company is seeing a major increase in discarded devices as businesses replace equipment at faster rates amid trade uncertainty. The company breaks down outdated electronics, recovers rare earths and metals, and reintegrates them into domestic manufacturing.
Startups across the U.S. are also working to develop rare earth recycling technologies to support local industries and reduce dependency on China, which still commands nearly 90 percent of the rare earth market, from mining to magnet production.
The urgency escalated after China introduced retaliatory export restrictions during the trade dispute. In April 2025, Beijing imposed controls on seven rare earth materials and related magnets, prompting Ford Motor Company to shutter a factory due to raw material shortages. Although China partially eased the restrictions in June, global markets remain strained.
The U.S. is racing to catch up. Prior to President Trump’s recent investment deal with MP Materials, the Biden administration had already allocated $45 million to enhance the domestic rare earth supply chain.
A similar situation is unfolding in the copper sector, another vital resource. Earlier this month, President Trump imposed a 50 percent tariff on copper imports, sending prices to historic highs. With copper mines taking up to three decades to come online, the U.S. is doubling down on recycling efforts.
German recycling leaders Wieland and Aurubis have already broken ground on new U.S. facilities. “As the first major secondary smelter of its kind in the US, [Aurubis] will allow us to keep strategically important metals in the economy, making US supply chains more independent,” said Toralf Haag, CEO of Aurubis.
