By John Hayward | Breitbart
China has restricted the export of several crucial rare earth minerals to the United States in response to President Donald Trump’s tariff increases.
The restrictions come up short of a total ban, but they will probably slow the delivery of minerals needed by defense, energy, and electronics companies.
The term “rare earth minerals” is sometimes used broadly to refer to all valuable or unusual minerals, but in fact it refers to a specific list of 17 metallic elements. Fifteen of them are lanthanides, meaning they occupy a specific region of the periodic table of the elements that begins with lanthanum (atomic number 57). The lanthanides all share similar atomic structure and chemical behavior, so the grouping is not arbitrary.