Trump is staring at the resources of Russia and Ukraine. Why does the US need rare earth metals?
Today, China is a leader in the production of rare earth elements, which are critically important for the production of electronics and military equipment. And the US dependence on rare earth supplies from China is extremely high, especially against the backdrop of China's tightening export controls on critical raw materials.
During a press conference following a meeting with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, US President Donald Trump expressed interest in rare earth metals in Russia, as well as other “very valuable resources” that the country has.
“Russia has resources that the United States is interested in, in particular rare earth metals,” Trump noted, also indicating that the parties are conducting “serious negotiations” on ending the military conflict, as well as on some major deals on economic development .
Trump's statement was commented on on social media by Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund. He stressed that Russia is "open" to bilateral economic cooperation and stated that he believes that such cooperation is key to "increasing the resilience of the global economy."
- It is noteworthy that the US is simultaneously negotiating access to Ukrainian rare earth metals. Washington called this compensation for the funds spent on supporting Kyiv, offering security guarantees in return.
Vladimir Putin on Donald Trump:
"He doesn't just say what he thinks, he does what he wants. Well, that's the privilege of being the leader of one of the great powers."
It is noteworthy that almost immediately after Trump’s statement, the Kremlin press service announced a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the extraction and processing of rare and rare earth metals, during which the Russian leader stated that this area is “the most important resource base of the modern economy.”
“In essence, we are talking about almost all sectors of the new technological order, which sets the dynamics of global progress,” he added, emphasizing that this is “a strategic reserve for the future.”
- Russia, according to Putin's statements, is ready to resume aluminum supplies to the American market, selling to the States about two million tons per year. Moreover, the countries could consider working together to produce aluminum, the Russian president noted.
Vladimir Putin also did not fail to remind that Russia has “an order of magnitude more rare earth resources than Ukraine,” and that the country is one of the leaders in rare earth metal reserves.
According to Vladimir Putin, the Russian side is ready to work with foreign partners in the development of rare earth metals, including in new regions. Photo: Kremlin Press Service
This is a group of 17 elements (rare earth elements, REE), which include the 15 lanthanides from the periodic table (lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, lutetium), as well as scandium and yttrium .
The listed elements are essential components of more than 200 products in a wide range of applications, especially high-tech consumer goods:
- cell phones;
- computer hard drives;
- electric and hybrid vehicles;
- flat panel monitors and televisions.
In the defense industry, elements are also used in electronic displays, guidance systems, lasers, radars, and sonars. Although the amount used in a product may be small, without them many devices simply will not function.
Thus, rare earth metals have become increasingly popular in recent years.
Photo: Peggy Greb, US department of agriculture. Public Domain
Here, however, it should be explained that rare earth metals are not so called because they are rarely found in nature - they are quite common, but are extremely rarely found in concentrated form. As a rule, they are found in minerals mixed with other elements, from where it can be very difficult to separate them.
Rare earth metals in Russia: Our country has rich reserves of rare earth metals, including lanthanum, cerium, neodymium and yttrium. One of the key deposits in the Russian Federation is Tomtorskoye in Yakutia, where significant volumes of niobium, scandium and other rare earth elements are concentrated. In addition, large reserves are located in the Lovozero massif on the Kola Peninsula. Lanthanides are mined there.
Despite the fact that Russia is rich in resources, it is still not among the leaders in the extraction of rare earth elements due to the lack of modern technologies for their processing.
Rare earth metals in Ukraine: Ukraine also has significant reserves of rare earth elements. Thus, the US Geological Survey names a number of metals, the deposits of which are in Ukraine, among the 50 most important resources for national security and the economy. These are: beryllium, graphite, lithium, manganese, titanium and zirconium. However, as Forbes wrote earlier, most of the REE reserves that may interest Washington are now located in territories not controlled by Kiev. According to the publication's estimate for the spring of 2023, the total value of Ukraine's mineral resources was about $15 trillion, but two-thirds of these resources are concentrated in the territories of the LPR and DPR and the Dnipropetrovsk region in the combat zone or directly near it.
Earlier, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Sviridenko reported that the territory controlled by Russia contains minerals worth about $350 billion. Photo: Artur Salimov. 1MI
- China (rare earth reserves: 44 million metric tons);
- Brazil (21 million metric tons);
- India (6.9 million metric tons);
- Australia (5.7 million metric tons);
- Russia (3.8 million metric tons).
Thus, according to data from the American Geosciences Institute , if in 1993 38% of the world's REE production came from China, 33% from the USA, 12% from Australia, and five percent each from Malaysia and India, then by 2008 China accounted for more than 90% of the world's REE production, and by 2011 - 97%.
As of 2024, the ranking of countries by REE production is as follows:
- China - 270 thousand metric tons;
- USA - 45 thousand metric tons;
- Myanmar (Burma) - 31 thousand metric tons;
- Australia, Nigeria, Thailand - 13 thousand metric tons each;
- India - 2.9 thousand metric tons;
- Russia - 2.5 thousand metric tons.
For decades, the US has relied on China to supply the vast majority of rare earth metals needed to make everything from high-end electronics to advanced weapons. Photo: 1MI
According to Yulia Davydova , Director of the Center for Social and Political Research at the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, the United States is one of the largest consumers of rare earth metals. But since the lion's share of the world's reserves of these metals is concentrated in China, today, the expert believes, Washington is looking for alternative sources to reduce its dependence on supplies from China.
Gaidar Institute expert Gasan Ramazanov agreed that the US dependence on rare earth metal supplies from China is extremely high.
- According to the World Bank, the United States imported about 400 tons of rare earth metals in 2023, of which 396 tons were supplied from China.
In his opinion, Trump's statements, in particular about the import of Ukrainian rare earth metals, are rather designed to put pressure on China as the main exporter of REE, since China is tightening export controls on critical raw materials as part of a trade standoff with the United States.
According to media reports, the US president has already increased tensions by starting a tariff war with China. Now the Celestial Empire is taking additional steps to reduce the supply of rare earth metals and related technologies to world markets.
For example, China is reportedly considering new rules aimed at protecting its domestic rare earth industry.
According to World Bank statistics, the US imported about 400 tons of rare earth metals in 2023, of which 396 tons came from China. Photo: 1MI
Not only Ukraine and Russia
At the end of December 2024, Donald Trump called it an "absolute necessity" for the United States to also own Greenland. As experts explained , Greenland's reserves of rare earth metals reach about 40 million tons, and uranium 300 thousand tons. These elements are needed by the United States in terms of ensuring the raw material independence of the national industry.
Against this backdrop, as Fair Observer notes, even Trump's "friend" and part-time Tesla electric car manufacturer Elon Musk is worried. According to the media, he is allegedly "working behind the scenes to block additional tariffs on graphite imports."
Chinese graphite, a vital component of the lithium-ion batteries in its Tesla, could face new tariffs that Fair Observer points out could reach 920%.
"This excitement over importing critical minerals from China may be the real factor pushing Trump to wrest Greenland from Denmark's clutches," the publication believes.
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