True risk for the United States
Unless China increases the price dramatically there would be little upheaval for most manufacturers. Some have stockpiled a six-month supply.
Any long-term threat could be diminished by capital investment and government encouragement in developing new mines and processing facilities. The last crisis in 2010 resulted in a plethora of rare earth processing projects that sprouted overnight.
China’s threat is more political than economic. In a crisis, any economic harm could be minimized by capital investment to increase domestic supply. The U.S. government is encouraging the California mine to develop its own processing facilities that in two years could meet the country’s rare earth metals demand.
