October 17, 2025
Maps shows US’ critical minerals as China battle heats up
Elsa Olivetti speaks with Newsweek about the United States' reliance on China for its rare earth mineral supply.
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In the Media
Professor Elsa Olivetti’s research focuses on improving the environmental and economic sustainability of materials.
Amid intensifying U.S.–China trade tensions, Elsa Olivetti speaks with Newsweek’s Jasmine Laws about America’s continued dependence on China for processing rare-earth elements. Despite sizable U.S. deposits, China controls about 90 percent of global production. “For the majority of these elements, the constraint is not geological scarcity, but rather a lack of processing and manufacturing capacity or know-how,” Olivetti says.
Read the full story in Newsweek.