Mike Shepard

from its dependence on China as a key source for these inputs.

They're so essential to the private sector, to autos, to iPhones, to gas turbines even.

And without access to them, we risk bankruptcy.

seeing a manufacturing supply chain disruption akin to what we risked experiencing earlier last year when the Chinese government started to impose some of those export controls on rare earths.

So the U.S.

is trying to diversify around it and ensure both pricing stability and supply stability here, Caro.

Well, the idea is to ensure that U.S.

manufacturers have this access.

And it would create this stockpile akin to the strategic petroleum reserve here that manufacturers here in the U.S.

could access as needed.

They would have to pay into it to be able to eventually make purchases and then promise to replenish it down the road.

But this is just one of several steps in the area of rare earths that the U.S.

government is taking right now.

Later this week, there will be meetings with dozens of foreign ministers here in Washington to agree on trying to find some way to create a mechanism to stabilize prices and supply around the world, not just here in the U.S., but with allies so that collectively they can reduce some of their dependence on China and increase extraction, mining and refining.

in a number of other countries.

While we call them rare earths, they are actually fairly common.

It is just that they are not extracted or exploited in as many places as they are and to the extent that China has come to dominate the market.

And, Carol, the clock is ticking.

Remember that the trade truce that the president signed with Xi Jinping late last year, it's only good for one year.

So they have to start making these moves to ensure that supply won't be as disrupted as it risked facing earlier last year before the trade agreement.