The US-China rare earths deal shows the importance of critical materials in a new era of strategic interdependence

The accelerating shift to clean energy and advanced technologies is redrawing the map of global economic power. As nations and firms race to secure critical minerals, rare earths – small in trade value but high in strategic impact – have emerged as chokepoints for sectors from electric vehicles and wind power to AI and defence. With the US and China just agreeing to a one-year rare earth truce, Viet Nguyen-Tien and Gavin Harper revisit China’s “0.1 percent rule”, which limits rare earth exports, its potential to transform global supply chains, and the geopolitical risks that follow. As resource competition sharpens, resilience and innovation will be key to navigating this new era of strategic interdependence.