CHINA - As the trade war between China and the US escalates, attention has been focused on the increasingly high levels of tit-for-tat tariffs the two countries are imposing on one an-other. But slapping reciprocal tariffs on Washington is not the only way Beijing has been able to retaliate.
China has now also imposed export controls on a range of critical rare earth minerals and magnets, dealing a major blow to the US. The move has laid bare how reliant America is on these minerals. Trump ordered the commerce department to come up with ways to boost US production of critical minerals and cut reliance on imports - an attempt by Washington to reclaim this critical industry. (BBC/Getty Images)
