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Deregulating the Rare Earth Industry
The principle thing that China is doing with the rare earth industry is regulate it. In fact, the country is attempting to regulate this industry in much the same way that regulatory agencies for other industries, such as healthcare or finance, are striving to regulate the activities of various organizations that work within it. The principle difference, of course, is that China has a near monopoly in this industry. The vast majority of the world's 17 essential substances that are comprised by the rather broad term of rare earths are mined by China -- in many instances, that mining takes place in Asia itself (No author, 2012). By offering subsidies to Chinese companies that are involved in this industry, China is attempting to regulate their productivity to keep pace with demand and to possibly fuel the laws of supply and demand that benefit the country. Additionally, the Chinese government is seeking to control the flow of these materials to the outside world, and to ensure that they are not overly-mined and produce any shortages.
The problem, of course, is that these substances are too valuable and play integral roles in the operation of a number of different devices from communication...
The most effective proposal to counter China's actions, then, would be one that induced competition and contested China's virtual monopoly of these substances. The U.S. government in particular should turn its attention to the development, research, and creation of technology that could effectively assist in the mining of as many of these substances as possible. Additionally, it would behoove this government to consult the aid of other international agencies regarding the practices of free enterprise in a way to limit the authority that China has over this particular industry.
The United States does have a rare earth industry. However, it is misleading to refer to such an industry as misleading -- particularly when compared to the state operated industry of China. The United States has a few companies that specialize in the mining of rare earths. One of the most notable of these is referred to as Molycorp. However, with suspected deposits of rare earth materials in various parts of the Western portion of the country including California, Montana, Colorado, Idaho and Alaska (Rare Earth, 2013), there is certainly room for the U.S. To build up…
References
Leifert, H. (2010). Restarting U.S. rare earth production? www.earthmagazine.org. Retrieved from http://www.earthmagazine.org/article/restarting-us-rare-earth-production
No author. (2012). China signals support for rare earths. Financial Times.
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