China's Grip on Rare Earths May Have Proven Too Strong for Trump

  • Minerals no longer in list of Chinese goods targeted by U.S.
  • China supplied 78% of America’s rare earths imports last year
U.S. Is Said to Spare Some Apple Products From New China Tariffs
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The U.S. appears to have shelved its plan to levy tariffs on a critical collection of minerals used in everything from hybrid vehicles to electronic gadgets and military hardware.

Rare earths including scandium and yttrium are absent from the latest list of about $200 billion of Chinese goods on which the Trump administration plans to impost duties from next week. They were among a number of items scrubbed from the preliminary target list released in July along with car seats and Bluetooth devices.