FAQ: China's Rare Earth Export Controls and Ucore's Role in Western Supply Chain Sovereignty
TL;DR
Ucore Rare Metals offers Western nations a strategic advantage by creating independent rare earth supply chains, reducing reliance on China's export controls for defense and technology sectors.
Ucore uses its patented RapidSX technology and secured $18.4 million DoD funding to build modular rare earth separation facilities in Louisiana with non-Chinese supply chains.
Ucore's domestic rare earth production strengthens Western supply chain resilience, ensuring stable access to materials essential for clean energy and national security technologies.
China controls 90% of global rare earth processing while restricting exports, making Ucore's US-based separation technology crucial for electric vehicles and defense systems.
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The article discusses China's expansion of export controls on rare earth elements and processing equipment, and how Ucore Rare Metals is positioning itself to help build an independent Western supply chain for these critical minerals.
China produces more than 90% of the world's processed rare earths and rare-earth magnets, and the new controls create supply chain risks for electric vehicles, wind turbines, defense systems, and semiconductors that depend on these materials.
China has placed five additional rare-earth elements under license controls: holmium, erbium, thulium, europium, and ytterbium.
Ucore is ramping up its U.S.-based capabilities using its patented RapidSX technology to build an independent supply chain of rare earths, supported by strategic partners and a $18.4 million funding agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense.
RapidSX is a modular, feed-stock-agnostic separation platform designed to outperform conventional solvent-extraction methods in speed, footprint, and cost for rare earth separation.
Ucore is developing its Strategic Metals Complex (SMC) in Alexandria, Louisiana, to scale its RapidSX technology toward commercial production.
Chinese customs data revealed that rare earth exports in September decreased by roughly 31% compared with August, indicating significant disruption has already begun.
The restrictions specifically bar exports to overseas defense users and apply stricter review for semiconductor-linked users, affecting automakers, defense contractors, and renewable energy companies.
Beijing is leveraging its control over critical minerals as part of broader negotiations with Washington, using rare earth exports as a strategic tool in global geopolitics.
In May 2025, Ucore announced a $18.4 million funding agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense to scale its RapidSX rare-earth separation technology toward commercial production.
Curated from InvestorBrandNetwork (IBN)
