Taking into account Trump’s administration desire to slow down industrial progress of China compared to the US, Bloomberg noticed some interesting positions in a new list of goods subject to import tariffs.

Rare earth metals were included into this list. They usually have strange names, such as yttrium, are used in high tech and hard to find. Today rare earths are used in hybrid vehicles and wind turbines.

China’s position in supply of rare earth metals is so strong, that in the beginning of this decade the US and other nations initiated a case within WTO to force China export more of these materials. Global deficit caused price rally for rare earth. WTO made a decision to benefit the US, while prices fell since producers found other alternatives.

China produced more than 80% of world rare earth metals in 2017. It also has 37% of global reserves and supplies 78% of US import.

Cobalt, which is quite popular today due to its use in electric cars’ batteries, is also on the list. China is small but still significant US importer of this metal.