A rare earth
Though the 17 rare earth metals are little known, modern life would not be possible without them: everyone uses them many times a day and they are crucial for the development of a number of technologies that form part of a sustainable economy.
They are called rare for a reason and China – which processes 97 per cent of the world's rare earths – is making the most of their limited supply. Last week China just stopped exporting them to Japan during a dispute about a lost fishing vessel. China's near-monopoly of rare earth metals gives it worrying amounts of power and what happened last week with Japan shows they are willing to use it.
For the United States the situation is critical, as President Obama said, investing now to ensure a supply of rare earth metals will take almost 15 years to show benefits. That could be a tricky 15 years.
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