中国对美国实施降维打击！为何美国耗费巨资也搞不定稀土困局？

Group 1 - The article highlights the significant dominance of China in the rare earth elements market, controlling over 70% of global production and more than 90% of processing, making it challenging for the U.S. to catch up [1][3]. - The U.S. has historically outsourced rare earth processing to China due to high labor costs and stringent environmental regulations, leading to a severe loss of expertise in the U.S. [3][5]. - Recent U.S. efforts to regain control include a $400 million investment in MP Materials and plans to build new processing facilities, but these initiatives face significant delays and higher costs compared to China [5][7]. Group 2 - The U.S. is facing a critical situation as China has implemented export controls on all 17 rare earth elements, which directly impacts the U.S. military and automotive industries [3][5]. - The cost of establishing new processing facilities in the U.S. is three times higher than in China, and the timeline for filling the heavy rare earth gap is estimated to be 3 to 7 years [5][7]. - The article emphasizes that the U.S. lacks a cohesive policy and long-term strategy, while China has steadily built its rare earth ecosystem since the 1980s, leading to a significant competitive advantage [7].