The New York Times reported last night (June 3rd) that "the U.S. government has attempted to restart the domestic rare earth industry, but progress has been minimal: every link in the production of rare earth magnets requires massive investment, while sales and profits are negligible. China has a huge competitive edge. This state-owned industry hardly bears any environmental compliance costs and enjoys almost unlimited government budgets for constructing large processing refineries and magnet factories."
[Wit] Comment: Technology will continue to advance, but Americans often use their own generation's technology to speculate about China. Stop using environmental protection as an excuse. In fact, the U.S. also had such industries before, and they were not small in scale. They were mainly concentrated in the industrial belt of the Midwest. However, 20 years ago, these industries all shut down. Was it really due to environmental protection? Not at all! The main reason was the huge investment required, the need to equip various large-scale industrial facilities and equipment, and the cost of maintenance and upgrades, while the returns were few and slow, making it unprofitable. As the saying goes, "If one lacks long-term consideration, one will soon be plagued by short-term worries." Now that the U.S. is "running out of rare earth resources," it is truly beginning to worry.
Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1833951351189511/
Disclaimer: This article solely represents the author's viewpoint.