The Rare Earth Metal Driving Tensions Between the US and China

Yttrium plays a critical role in everything from aircraft engines to semiconductors. China controls the vast majority of the market--and that's not changing anytime soon. The alarm hasn't yet reached the general public, but tension is beginning to build in the corridors of the aerospace industry, in microchip laboratories, and in government offices. For months, an element almost invisible to the world--yttrium--has become the silent center of a new global dispute. Supplies are thinning, prices are skyrocketing, deliveries are stalling.