Video News/This Week In Focus

(Kitco News) - Rare earths have emerged as one of the central issues as President Trump and Xi Jinping meet at the White House, with China's one-year pause on its toughest rare earth export controls set to expire in November, Kitco News anchor Jeremy Szafron reported. Although the United States is the world's second-largest rare earth miner, it remains dependent on China for the finished magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines and defense equipment, because mining alone does not address the bottleneck in refining and magnet manufacturing. China produces 94% of the world's sintered rare earth magnets, according to the International Energy Agency, and in April 2025 it placed seven rare earths behind export licenses, a move that sharply reduced shipments and prompted some automakers to cut production or temporarily halt output. Szafron examined how China built its dominance over refining and magnet making, and what the Pentagon's price floor at MP Materials' Mountain Pass mine is designed to do. The episode also noted that China's central bank has continued buying gold for 22 consecutive months, according to People's Bank of China data reported by Kitco News, underscoring Beijing's broader strategy on strategic materials and reserves.