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The U.S. once had a monopoly on rare earths. How it lost to China

NPR | By Emily Feng,

Kenny Malone

Published May 1, 2026 at 3:44 AM CDT

Planet Money tells the story of how the U.S. lost to China on rare earths.

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Emily Feng

Emily Feng is NPR's Beijing correspondent.

See stories by Emily Feng

Kenny Malone

Kenny Malone is a correspondent for NPR's Planet Money podcast. Before that, he was a reporter for WNYC's Only Human podcast. Before that, he was a reporter for Miami's WLRN. And before that, he was a reporter for his friend T.C.'s homemade newspaper, Neighborhood News.