Russia and China are taking control of deposits of the most important raw materials for the United States.
These are rare-earth metals, which are necessary for the production of various high-tech equipment, including electric cars and weapons.
Three rare-earth metals are of particular value for the global industry: holmium, terbium and dysprosium.
Without these metals it is impossible to create, for example, high-temperature magnets.
Currently, China is the world leader in the production of rare earth metals, accounting for 60% of production. In addition, Beijing is trying to get control of deposits of such a valuable resource in many other regions of the world.
Russia also has large deposits of rare earth metals. As you know, Russia and China have become very close, and both of these states have very complicated relations with the United States.
According to the latest estimates, Brazil and Russia are also rich in these elements, and their reserves surpass those of Australia and the United States.
It's worth noting that Washington is trying to reduce its dependence on supplies of rare earth metals from China.
The United States has long been trying to secure supplies of the most needed metals with the help of the Minerals Security Partnership group involving the EU, Britain, Japan, Australia and South Korea.
In particular, U.S. officials held meetings with representatives of several African countries that mine and process such minerals.
Earlier the Western press noted that Russia may stop supplies of palladium.
Our country accounts for a quarter of the world supplies of the metal. Palladium is widely used in the automotive industry and it will be extremely difficult to replace imports from Russia.
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