The United States accounted for only 3 percent of China’s natural gas imports last year. Those purchases could now dry up entirely in the trade war.

MP Materials said on Thursday it had stopped shipping rare earth concentrate to China in response to the that nation's retaliatory tariffs and export controls following the levies imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump,

As geopolitical and trade tensions rise, China’s dominance of both mining and processing means these niche metals have become a cudgel to use against opponents.