China has suspended rare earth exports in retaliation to President Trump’s recent tariff hikes. Click to read.

From fighter planes to nuclear reactor rods and smartphones, rare earth minerals are vital to a wide array of products. As geopolitical and trade tensions rise, China’s dominance of both mining and processing means these niche metals have become a cudgel to use against opponents.

China has halted exports of critical minerals and magnets needed to make everything from cars, drones, missiles and semiconductors amid an escalating trade war between the world’s two biggest economies,