[exoverito]

It takes nearly a decade to get a mine online, under optimal conditions. If a conflict breaks out and China embargoes the West, what's your plan then?

[Gigachad]

Stockpile it beforehand and don’t create pointless conflicts.

[mort96]

Stockpile 10 years worth of the entire west's consumption of rare earth minerals? That's not gonna be cheap. Would China even have the production capacity to handle it in a reasonable time frame?

[themafia]

We're reasoning about the current state of things. We're /not/ suggesting this is good or should continue.

The unwritten implication is, we can do it ourselves, but the price will skyrocket as a result. I personally think that would be fine. Wait a minute and someone else will come by to yell about this the other way.