What would happen if the production of laptops, cellphones, and MP3 players suddenly halted? Oh, and no more hybrid electric vehicles and MRI machines? It probably won’t happen, of course, but the fact that it could is scary enough. A single country, China, mines more than 95 percent of the world’s supply of rare earth metals, found in permanent magnets, phosphors, lasers, capacitors, and superconductors.
More scary China hypotheticals
Because of the relative lack of environmental regulations, China mines 95% of the rare earth metals used in laptops, Mp3 players, medical equipment, etc. What would happen if they suddenly stopped exporting?