When President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet in South Korea later this week, one topic of discussion will be rare earths. They play an important role in the United States and in Asia — where there are many interconnections.
Rare earths are metallic elements, and their production and use are vital to Asia. There are 17 rare earth elements, mostly clumped together in the same part of the periodic table.
Despite the name, they're not scarce. But they are difficult to extract from the earth, and expensive and messy to process. They're in demand for a variety of high-tech applications.
They make strong and durable lightweight magnets, they can strengthen metallic alloys, and they can amplify fiber optic signals carrying digital data. They're even components of powerful and compact lasers.
They pop up in everything from your smartphone to hybrid car batteries — and from fighter jets to Magnetic Resonance Imaging machines.
The U.S. Geological Survey is the source that says China produces 70% of the worldʻs supply. And itʻs the Paris-based International Energy Agency which says China processes nearly 90% of them.
Australia has the fourth largest reserves of rare earths — behind China, Brazil and India — and ahead of Russia and Vietnam.
The U.S. signed a rare earths deal with Japan on Tuesday morning, with Australia earlier this month, and with Thailand and Malaysia this past weekend.
Malaysia is home to the largest rare earths processing plant outside China — and it's owned by an Australian company.
