The PRC’s hold over critical materials supply chains, within which we include rare earths, is longstanding and considerable, and furnishes China with a powerful card to play in the ongoing China-US economic rivalry. However, PRC restrictions that have so far been threatened or put in place are not limited only to targeting materials where the US is most vulnerable, so we speculate that, as well as retaliation towards the US, there are other motives at play — this may include