Can America Afford to Rely on China for Critical Minerals?
A Trade Win Masks a Deeper Dependency Dilemma

Buckle up: the U.S. and China just sealed a trade deal to unlock the flow of rare earth minerals and magnets, those unsung heroes powering everything from electric cars to microchips. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dropped the news on June 27, 2025, touting smoother access to supplies that China had throttled in retaliation to steep U.S. tariffs. But while this agreement might keep factories humming for now, sharp minds like Ashley Zumwalt-Forbes are waving a red flag: leaning on Beijing’s supply chain is a high-stakes gamble for America’s industrial edge.
The deal, inked earlier this week, sprang from a high-level phone call between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, with negotiators ironing out the fine print in London. On Fox Business Network’s Mornings with Maria, Bessent crowed, “Tariffs are coming down, and rare earth magnets are starting to flow back to the U.S.” These materials, critical for cars, wind turbines, and cutting-edge tech, had been snarled by China’s April 2025 permitting rules, which slapped a 45-day delay on exports. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, speaking to Bloomberg TV, confirmed the deal’s signing, signaling a cooling-off in the trade war that’s been shaking both economies.
