U.S. efforts to break China's dominance of the rare earths market and to drive investment in its own industry have moved up a gear with a Washington-backed plan to create a separate, higher pricing system.

MP Materials has announced plans to expand rare earth mining and processing operations as Washington seeks to end its dependence on Chinese supplies.

Low environmental standards helped China become the world’s low-cost producer of rare earths, but Beijing was also focused on helping the industry.

Sona Comstar has developed new motors using light rare earth elements like cerium, samarium and neodymium, while Ather Energy too is keen to move towards light rare earth magnets. Ola Electric says it

China's exports growth beat expectations in June as businesses continued to divert shipments to non-U.S. markets while shunning the U.S. despite a tariff reprieve.

The continent wants to reduce the risks of depending so heavily on China for the valuable minerals. The question is how.

While the area has traditionally been renowned for livestock, today the region embodies the stranglehold that China has over the supply of rare earth elements, as it is home to one of the world’s largest reserves of rare earth elements,