YOKOHAMA — Trade minister Akihiro Ohata and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke concurred Thursday that Tokyo and Washington need to diversify their sources of rare earth minerals, a Japanese government official said.
Alluding to China as the source, Ohata told Locke that imports of rare earth minerals remain stalled, and that Japan wishes to cooperate with the U.S. to broaden sources by developing substitute materials, recycling and finding new trade partners. In doing so, the reliance on China, which accounts for about 90 percent of the global output of rare earths, would be reduced.
Although not directly mentioning China, Locke indicated he shared the same concerns and said that instead of becoming overdependent on one exporting country, efforts should be made to find alternative sources, according to the official.