{video} Beijing could claim to be lowering the quota for environmental reasons, Lau says, and a lower quota would naturally reduce the amount of rare earth available, which would limit supplies and increase costs for the U.S. But even this approach carries risk: a reduced quota limits supplies for China’s more significant customers too. The U.S. imports 80% of its rare earth needs from China, but overall demand for rare earths in the U.S. is low. American demand accounted for just 4% of China’s rare earth shipments, totaling around $160 million in 2018. Partly, that’s because most U.S. manufacturers that require rare ... (full story)