๐ฅ๐โ๏ธ Rare Earths Reckoning: Why Trumpโs โBoomโ Rhetoric Masks a Multi-Year Marathon to Break Chinaโs Stranglehold โ๏ธ๐๐ฅ
$Energy Fuels(UUUU)$ $LYNAS RARE EARTHS LTD(LYC.AU)$ $NuScale Power(SMR)$ Iโve spent years dissecting commodity cycles, from uranium squeezes to lithium booms, and nothing rivals the rare earths saga for its fusion of geopolitics and industrial necessity. Iโm watching Trumpโs latest claim: an $8.5 billion โpipeline ready to goโ with Australia, and Iโm not buying the hype of overnight mineral independence. Miningโs the easy part; refiningโs the fortress, and China built it. Iโm tracking this not for the politics, but for the asymmetric setups it creates in the volatility.
๐บ๐ธ Geopolitics: Alliances Over Ambition
The Trump-Albanese pact announced in October was pitched as an industrial revolution for critical minerals. The deal includes joint stockpiles, production-sharing, and U.S. investment in Australiaโs $1.2 billion critical-minerals reserve by 2026. It sounds bold, but Iโve crunched the numbers; itโs progress dressed as transformation. Australia mines 18 percent of the worldโs rare earths yet exports roughly 80 percent of them to China for processing. Lynas Rare Earths, the nationโs largest player, still relies on Malaysian facilities that depend on Chinese intermediates.
Beijing controls about 70 percent of known reserves and 90 percent of global refining, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Its new export-licence rules, covering any product with more than 0.1 percent rare-earth content effective 1 December 2025, tighten that grip even further. Foreign military-linked companies will receive automatic denials. This follows the 2023 bans on gallium and germanium exports. History rhymes: when tariffs last escalated in 2010, China flooded supply and crashed prices 80 percent. Iโm factoring that playbook in.
๐งช Refiningโs the Moat, Not the Mine
Commodities trade on bottlenecks, and rare earthsโ bottleneck is refining; capital-intensive, toxic, and decades ahead in China. Even if new mines open tomorrow, weโre still queuing for Chinese plants. Dysprosium oxide, vital for EV magnets, costs about US $800 per kg in the U.S. versus $230 in China, a 248 percent premium. Energy Fuels ($UUUU) recently achieved 99.9 percent pure dysprosium output at its White Mesa Mill but is producing just 2 kg per week. Scaling to commercial levels takes years.
Global demand is sprinting while capacity crawls. The IEAโs 2025 Critical Minerals Outlook projects a 50โ60 percent demand surge by 2040, with rare-earth shortfalls exceeding 20 percent under current policy paths. Iโm blending exposure through uranium as well; nuclearโs revival reinforces the theme. The World Nuclear Association expects global uranium demand to reach 180,000 tonnes by 2030 while supply lags 20 percent. Energy Fuelsโ dual rare-earth and uranium model is an under-appreciated hedge against both macro shocks and policy bluster.
โ๏ธ Trade-War Theatre Meets Market Reality
Trumpโs rhetoric sells independence, yet Australia still imports refined rare-earth materials from China for its own defence and technology sectors. If Canberra canโt secure domestic supply, thereโs no surplus for Washington. The IMFโs World Economic Outlook (Oct 2025) warns that new trade barriers could shave 1โ2 percent from global GDP; energy-transition inflation is already sticky. For traders, this means volatility, not victory. Iโm watching for U.S. DoD funding rounds; $400 million has already been channelled to MP Materials ($MP) and $540 million sector-wide for mid-stream development.
๐ Market Setups: $UUUU | $MP | $REMX
Markets move long before politicians do. The VanEck Rare Earth & Strategic Metals ETF ($REMX) hit a 52-week high of $80.25 on 13 October before retracing to $73.68 on profit-taking. Iโm eyeing that dip: top holdings MP (25 percent weight) and Lynas (10 percent) capture the macro theme without single-name volatility.
Energy Fuels ($UUUU) trades near $21.91, coiling in a falling-wedge pattern; a textbook reversal setup. Resistance sits at $23.50; a breakout targets $27.40 to $28.00 based on Fibonacci extensions from the $11.82 lows. RSI 45 and rising, MACD turning positive, and Bollinger compression hint at a volatility pop. Options flow on 15 October showed $14 million in calls, institutions positioning ahead of headlines.
$MP Materials remains the institutional proxy for U.S.-based supply. Price near $80 tests its 50-day SMA around $78; short interest 7 percent creates squeeze potential if policy momentum builds. 13F filings reveal BlackRock up 5 percent to a $1.2 billion stake and Vanguard adding two million UUUU shares in Q2.
๐ง My Positioning & Outlook
Iโm long UUUU November $22 calls with tight risk below $21.50. Scaling in on weakness, I allocate 40 percent UUUU, 30 percent MP, 20 percent REMX, and 10 percent cash. Targets: UUUU $28 (Q1 2026), MP $95, REMX $85. Near-term catalysts: UUUU earnings 31 Oct (EPS -$0.08 exp.), MP 6 Nov (EPS -$0.13 exp.), Chinaโs export curbs effective 1 Dec. Iโm not buying political promises; Iโm buying confirmation breakouts.
Iโve traded enough cycles to know this isnโt a sprint to โboomโ but a marathon where execution beats headlines. The Trump-Albanese pact buys time, not independence. My eyes are on the companies building, not boasting.
๐โDo you believe the U.S. can truly break Chinaโs rare-earth dominance this decade, or is this another โenergy-independence illusionโ designed to comfort the crowd while traders quietly position for the marathon?
๐ข Donโt miss out! Like, Repost and Follow me for exclusive setups, cutting-edge trends, and insights that move markets ๐๐ Iโm obsessed with hunting down the next big movers and sharing strategies that crush it. Letโs outsmart the market and stack those gains together! ๐
Trade like a boss! Happy trading ahead, Cheers, BC ๐๐๐๐๐
@Tiger_comments @TigerPM @TigerObserver @TigerStars @Daily_Discussion
Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.

Great article, would you like to share it?
Great article, would you like to share it?
Great article, would you like to share it?
Great article, would you like to share it?
Great article, would you like to share it?