In particular:Congressman Courtney says that options for the US...

In particular:
Congressman Courtney says that options for the US now range from government subsidies to research agencies to develop alternative solutions, to seed funding for individual rare earth ventures. And, he said, because of the US-Australia alliance, and the fact that Australia is a major source of rare earths, "this is an issue with perfect alignment for us to get a common policy" with Australia.
Scott Morrison is due to work on that alignment when he meets Donald Trump in Washington this week. The Australian government published a report two weeks ago listing 15 potential mining and processing projects in Australia for producing rare earths and other "critical minerals". The estimated cost of developing all of them would total $5.7 billion. "A secure and stable supply is vital for Australia and for the global community, with critical minerals crucial for a wide range of high-tech products including in defence," Australia's Defence Minister, Linda Reynolds, said on Monday.
"Australia has a key role in supporting this global market, because of our significant deposits of critical minerals."
Reynolds, a former brigadier in the Australian army, has been working on this issue for five years, long before she became minister. Australia has also held talks with Britain, France and NATO, says Reynolds, "to make sure we have a functioning market in critical minerals, and to foster healthy competition".