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<p><span lang="en-GB">"The US has made no secret of its growing uneasiness over its </span><span lang="en-GB"><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-china-rareearth-explainer/u-s-dependence-on-chinas-rare-earth-trade-war-vulnerability-idUSKCN1TS3AQ">reliance on China for rare-earth minerals</a>,</span><span lang="en-GB">
key ingredients in everything from smartphones to satellites. In 2017,
President Trump issued an executive order that led to the U.S. National
Science and Technology Council releasing a <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/news/interior-releases-2018-s-final-list-35-minerals-deemed-critical-us-national-security-and">list of 35 minerals</a> critical to the US economy whose suppl</span><span lang="en-GB">y</span><span lang="en-GB"> could be vulnerable to disruption."</span></p>
<p><span lang="en-GB">"Now researchers at the US Geological Survey have
gone a step further by assessing which of these minerals pose the
greatest supply risk t</span><span lang="en-GB">o</span><span lang="en-GB"> America’s manufacturing sector. </span><span lang="en-GB">I</span><span lang="en-GB">n a </span><a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/8/eaay8647"><span lang="en-GB">paper in</span> <em><span lang="en-GB">Science Advances</span></em></a><span lang="en-GB">,</span><span lang="en-GB">
they list 23 minerals at risk of supply disruption that could bring the
country’s ability to produce some high tech products (including
rechargeable batteries, thin-film solar panels, and permanent magnets)
grinding to a halt."</span></p>
<p><span lang="en-GB">"The researchers looked at data on 52 minerals between 2007–2016 and considered </span><span lang="en-GB">3</span><span lang="en-US"> key risks:</span><span lang="en-GB">
how dependent US manufacturers are on foreign supplies, how likely
those supplies are to be disrupted, and how easily manufacturers could
weather those disruptions."</span></p><p><span lang="en-GB"><br></span></p><p><span lang="en-GB"><a href="https://singularityhub.com/2020/02/24/how-the-supply-of-23-rare-minerals-could-derail-us-tech-manufacturing/">https://singularityhub.com/2020/02/24/how-the-supply-of-23-rare-minerals-could-derail-us-tech-manufacturing/</a> <br></span></p>
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