The United States, Europe and Japan joined forces on Tuesday against China's restrictions on exports of rare earth minerals that are critical to production of advanced technology and clean energy goods expected to provide the jobs of the future. "We want our companies building those products right here in America. But to do that, American manufacturers need to have access to rare earth materials which China supplies," President Barack Obama said at the White House. "Now, if China would simply let the market work on its own, we'd have no objections. But their policies currently are preventing that from happening and ... (full story)