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The U.S. once had a monopoly on rare earths. How it lost to China

NPR | By Emily Feng,
Kenny Malone
Published May 1, 2026 at 4:44 AM EDT

Planet Money tells the story of how the U.S. lost to China on rare earths.

Copyright 2026 NPR
Emily Feng
Emily Feng is NPR's Beijing correspondent.
See stories by Emily Feng
Kenny Malone
Kenny Malone is a correspondent for NPR's Planet Money podcast. Before that, he was a reporter for WNYC's Only Human podcast. Before that, he was a reporter for Miami's WLRN. And before that, he was a reporter for his friend T.C.'s homemade newspaper, Neighborhood News.