On June 11, 2026, Chinese media Guancha.cn reported that despite the U.S.'s diversification efforts, due to China's overwhelming dominance, U.S. companies are still struggling to stably procure critical minerals.

The article conveyed that, according to a Reuters report on the 10th, the U.S.-China Business Council (USCBC) stated in a report it published that while there had been some progress for U.S. companies in acquiring critical minerals from China, due to the impact of export controls and delays in review and approval, some rare earth elements remain largely unobtainable from China.

It also introduced that USCBC President Sean Stein told Reuters that samarium-cobalt magnets, yttrium, and cadmium, which are critical for aerospace and defense applications, are still difficult to obtain, and that although the Trump administration is fully pushing for the recovery of mineral supply chains in the U.S. and allied countries, he admitted that even if the U.S. takes diversified measures, it would be difficult to thoroughly resolve the mineral supply shortage with alternatives within the next three years.

Furthermore, it reported that USCBC Vice President Kyle Sullivan pointed out that because China holds a dominant position in both rare earth mining and deep processing, the U.S. side is finding it difficult to stably procure both rare earth raw materials and processed products, such as magnets, and added that this is not something the Trump administration can solve alone, but rather an opportune time for Congress to intervene.

The article pointed out that although the U.S. has promoted its so-called "critical minerals diplomacy" and has concluded memoranda of understanding for critical minerals cooperation with numerous countries since 2023, it generally faces difficulties in implementation during the actual promotion process. It conveyed that an article published by Forbes magazine on the 4th commented that, compared to the speed of U.S. policy declarations, the development of financial aid, processing capacity construction, and logistics infrastructure, among other things, is significantly lagging.

Furthermore, it explained that while the current U.S. strategy remains focused on a "minerals-first" approach to securing raw material supply, mine development requires infrastructure such as railways, ports, processing facilities, and water supply, as well as industrial support, and without these, it is difficult to break away from the existing system. In this regard, it emphasized that China has built a complete ecosystem in critical minerals over decades. (Edited and Translated by Kawajiri)