Thankfully, on Monday, President Trump delayed assessing higher tariffs on Chinese imports by another 90 days. China followed suit and delayed its own tariffs before the Aug. 11 deadline expired.

The new deadline is Nov. 10, which if not further delayed, will see import taxes of up to 145% on Chinese goods coming to USA. China has threatened 125% reciprocal tariffs on U.S. goods entering its country. The extension especially helps retailers who are in the middle of Christmas purchases.

Meanwhile, hopefully the respective leaders can resolve differences over tariffs and export restrictions. Central to those discussions is China’s worldwide dominance of rare earth minerals, or REE, markets.

China currently controls over 60% of global REE mining and more than 80% of refining. Rare earths are important for their unique magnetic, luminescent, and electrochemical properties, allowing products to be lighter, smaller, stronger, and use less energy. They are vital to our nation’s defense.

In the last 20 years, the Chinese government heavily subsidized REE processing technology and it paid off. Its technology bankrupted foreign competitors and allowed the Chinese to manipulate worldwide markets.

As negotiations continue, American and worldwide demand soars. Global demand for magnetic rare earth elements is projected to triple—from 59 kilotons in 2022 to 176 kilotons by 2035 driven by booming demand for electric vehicles and the rapid expansion of wind power projects, CarbonCredits.com reports.

In April, Beijing imposed export restrictions on rare earth products in response to U.S. tariffs and technology restrictions. That action caused rare earth magnet exports to the U.S. to plummet, disrupting global supply chains and forcing automakers outside China to partially suspend production.

Reuters reported: “However, following new trade agreements in June, shipments rebounded sharply. China’s exports of rare earth magnets to the U.S. jumped 660% month-over-month in June to 353 metric tons.”

Especially troublesome is the Chinese control over REE processing. For example, the only U.S. working REE mine is the Mountain Pass open pit, found 60 miles southwest of Las Vegas. It sends its ore to China for processing.

Last month, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright was in Ranchester, Wyoming, for the ribbon cutting of the first new U.S. rare earth mine in 70 years.

There are promising sites closer to home. For example, deep in the picturesque Bitterroot Mountains of southwest Montana and central Idaho are REE deposits.

“Sheep Creek is the highest-grade rare-earth deposit in the United States, with a multibillion-dollar resource value,” says Jim Hedrick, former rare-earth commodity specialist at the U.S. Geological Survey.

However, Sheep Creek, one of the western tributaries to the Bitterroot River, is near the Idaho Cobalt Belt where abandoned cobalt mining toxic water is stored and being cleaned up.

REE processing technology is a national priority. The Idaho National Lab, a federal research facility, is working on more environmentally friendly REE processing research. That technology is especially important if American mining and processing is to develop.

Mining and processing rare earth metals is messy, and most countries don’t want to deal with the associated pollutants. Nowhere is the contamination more prevalent than in China itself.

The giant Mongolian open pit mine in Bayan Obo, 75 miles north of Baotou, a city with 2.4 million people, produces the bulk of the world’s rare earths as a byproduct of iron ore mining.

The ore is transported to the outskirts of Baotou where it is separated and purified through hydrometallurgical methods and acid baths. The contaminated water is then pumped into a six-mile tailing pond.

The foul waters of the tailing pond not only hold all sorts of toxic chemicals, but also radioactive elements such as thorium, which if ingested, causes cancer. Li Guirong, former local Communist Party secretary, said that before the REE factories, fields of watermelon and tomatoes stretched to the horizon.

Irrespective of the results of the latest U.S.-China talks, our country is heavily dependent on foreign nations for metals we need to propel our high-tech economy and military. No one wants a Bayan Obo mine or Bautou processing plant near them.

Regardless of trade discussions, we need to find ways to mine and process critical mineral ores so that workers, neighbors, and our environment are protected.

Don C. Brunell is a business analyst, writer, and columnist. He retired as president of the Association of Washington Business, the state’s oldest and largest business organization.