WASHINGTON – U.S. and Japanese government officials and company officials met to discuss supply bottlenecks affecting access to Chinese yttrium, a rare earth metal vital to aerospace and chipmaking, two weeks before U.S. President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, a document seen by reporters shows. The meeting, convened by the Trump administration on Sept. 10, provided “an opportunity for candid discussion of current and emerging strategic supply chain bottlenecks with a specific focus on permanent magnet and yttrium supply chains,” according to an emailed invitation seen by reporters.
Yttrium is a silvery rare earth metal with no easy substitute. Used in heat-resistant coatings that protect jet engine turbine blades, power plant components and semiconductor manufacturing tools, it has become a flash point in the U.S.-China trade war as Beijing’s export controls have disrupted aerospace, energy and defense supply chains.
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