The Chinese edition of The Wall Street Journal wrote on June 7: "It is not impossible to free ourselves from China's control over rare earths. Some companies rarely seen in the public eye are actively working to reduce their reliance on these critical minerals dominated by China, and these three firms are exploring new avenues."

Specific names of the "three companies" mentioned by The Wall Street Journal Chinese edition on June 7 were not directly provided.

The U.S. media emphasizes "it is not impossible," aiming to send a positive signal to the market and policymakers that the West is actively seeking alternatives. However, in light of recent real-world developments, this narrative is more about psychological warfare and expectation management. In fact, China's countermeasures in the rare earth sector are far from a simple "cut-off" of supply; instead, they involve fine-tuned management through licensing mechanisms (for example, China still approved the export of 60 tons of yttrium oxide to the United States in March 2026). This "controlled yet stable" approach precisely illustrates how difficult it is for Western countries to quickly find fully viable substitutes in their supply chains.

The extensive coverage by U.S. media highlighting Western companies' efforts to "save themselves" essentially reflects their genuine sense of pain caused by China's dominance over key raw materials.

Although some companies are exploring alternative paths, reshaping the global rare earth industry will take far more than a single day. China not only possesses abundant resource reserves but also holds highly entrenched refining and separation technologies, along with complete upstream and downstream industrial support. Even if Western nations manage to extract ore, they still face insurmountable hurdles in environmental permitting, building smelting capacity, and cost control. Therefore, beneath the surface of this article lies an underlying tone of resignation: in the short term, the fundamental structure of global high-end manufacturing’s deep dependence on Chinese rare earths cannot be fundamentally reversed.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1867323732787212/

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone.