The Trump administration is seeking to cool tensions between the U.S. and China, after Beijing unveiled plans to impose export controls on rare-earth magnets and after the U.S. threatened more stringent tariffs on Chinese goods in retaliation. Rare-earth elements are used in products such as electric cars, household appliances, lithium batteries and camera lenses — and are critical to national security because the magnets are key components in many weapons systems.The export controls directly affect the defense supply chain since the magnets are used in F-35 fighter jets, Virginia- and Columbi...

3 weeks ago

On HALO