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During his trip through Asia this week, President Trump signed agreements about rare earths with several nations. It's part of an effort to reduce U.S. reliance on China for the elements, which are critical to make everything from electric vehicles to jet fighters. The agreements are short on detail and with a long timeline. NPR's international affairs correspondent Jackie Northam reports.
JACKIE NORTHAM, BYLINE: President Trump has made building up the country's self-sufficiency in rare earths an important part of his administration. This week, he went into the region China dominates, signing rare earth agreements with Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia.
RYAN CASTILLOUX: I think they're very strategically placed deals.
NORTHAM: Ryan Castilloux is the managing director and founder of Adamas Intelligence, which focuses on rare earths and battery materials. He says the timing of Trump's rare earth deals was notable - just ahead of his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
CASTILLOUX: I think it's very much a challenge to China and is designed to help strengthen the U.S.' hand in advance of Trump-Xi meetings this week.
NORTHAM: The rare earth deals vary by country, depending on what they need from the U.S. and what they have to offer. Castilloux says, for example, Thailand is a hub for processing rare earth minerals. Malaysia has an abundance of rare earths but could use U.S. investment to build infrastructure. Castilloux says Japan is a major producer of rare earth permanent magnets but relies on Chinese suppliers.
CASTILLOUX: So partnering with Japan to try and help it cross the final chasm of reliance on China dovetails with the U.S.' own interests that can help undermine or erode China's dominance longer-term.
NORTHAM: Still, it's unlikely the new agreements will be enough to break China's dominance on rare earths.
JAMES KENNEDY: It's just a lot of noise. All of that activity is to give the appearance of progress, but the truth is all of those things are just headline-seeking, headline-grabbing.
NORTHAM: James Kennedy is the founder of ThREE Consulting, which specializes in rare earth minerals. He says many of the Asian nations already supply rare earths to China and may be leery of angering their powerful neighbor by working with the U.S. Kennedy points to Vietnam, which he says is under the shadow of China.
KENNEDY: If the U.S. goes in and tries to cut deals in Vietnam, they're probably going to get a backlash from China because China considers that part of their Monroe Doctrine.
NORTHAM: In other words, China does not want to see U.S. influence in its backyard. But even if the Asian nations do follow through with U.S. agreements, nothing is going to happen overnight, says Ted Wittenstein, a specialist on U.S.-China and technology security issues at Yale University.
TED WITTENSTEIN: The process of rare earth extraction, all the way to refining, all the way to manufacturing actual products, is a very complex supply chain and it's very difficult to construct. The challenge is going to be the timeline.
NORTHAM: Not to mention money. Wittenstein says it's still worth doing the agreements even if the impact on China's rare earth dominance is limited.
WITTENSTEIN: It can certainly have the effect of signaling to Beijing that the United States will continue to look to diversify, if not secure its own supply chain.
NORTHAM: Wittenstein says the U.S. will have to create more alliances and agreements in other parts of the world to be fully self-sufficient in rare earths.
Jackie Northam, NPR News.
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