U.S. President Donald Trump will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week without having fulfilled a key part of his trade strategy—ensuring domestic supplies of critical minerals to counter Beijing’s dominance. Reuters reports, as cited by UNN.
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As the publication notes, U.S. manufacturers continue to depend on Chinese materials used in the production of semiconductors, robotics, weapons systems, and artificial intelligence technologies.
This dependence puts Trump in an uncomfortable position for trade negotiations. He can pressure Xi only to a certain extent over tariffs and export controls without risking losing access to the metals, magnets, and chemical compounds that the United States does not produce in sufficient quantities, according to half a dozen analysts interviewed by Reuters.
"Xi has used China’s position as the world’s leading producer of rare-earth elements as leverage in negotiations. Last year, Beijing restricted exports of minerals and magnets, disrupting Ford Motor’s (FN) operations," the publication writes.
According to Samir Kapadia, head of trade at the Washington consulting firm Vogel Group, the gap between Trump’s ambitions for minerals and the slow pace of their implementation reflects the difficulty of rebuilding an industry that the United States had nearly abandoned by the end of the 20th century.
"There are more PowerPoint presentations than permits now, so the question is how many of these projects exist only in PDF format and how many are ready to be implemented," Kapadia said.
The meeting with Xi, expected on Thursday, will test Trump’s strategy. Trump and Xi may agree to extend the existing trade truce, which expires in January and includes exemptions from export controls on certain critical minerals, the publication writes.
In addition, according to available information, China said it restricted mineral exports to prevent them from being used in war.
It also accused Washington of abusing export controls by blocking semiconductor exports to China. Meanwhile, the United States is lagging in production. According to the International Energy Agency, its production capacity for neodymium-iron-boron magnets, used in electric vehicles and military equipment, was approximately 4,500 metric tons per year in 2025. By comparison, the figure in China was about 210,000 metric tons, the publication writes.
Moreover, as the publication writes, in addition to mining, China spent decades building the processing and refining capacity, technical expertise, and manufacturing infrastructure needed to turn raw materials into industrial components.
"Where are we now? Exactly where the Chinese want us to be: incredibly screwed," said Jack Lifton, an analyst at Technology Metals Research.
The Trump administration has taken steps to accelerate mineral extraction projects, but much of the infrastructure remains unchanged, and mines, refineries, and processing facilities, according to available information, require a decade or more to become operational.
Recall
A reassessment of 17 minerals in China revealed a significant increase in reserves of rhenium, gold, and nickel. A new zircon deposit was also discovered.