Taiwan’s Rare Earths Security Challenge

Sourcing ultimately depends on Chinese-refined feedstock

By: Jens Kastner

Recycling from scrap. Taipei Times photo

While Taiwan dominates global high-tech manufacturing, it faces a serious upstream vulnerability: a near-total reliance on imported Critical Metals and Rare Earth Elements (REEs). Taiwan imports approximately 3,000 tonnes of rare earth elements annually but produces none domestically. Only a handfu…