Trump signs order launching probe into reliance on imported critical minerals

FILE PHOTO: Workers transport soil containing rare earth elements for export at a port in Lianyungang

(Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order launching an investigation into the national security risks of the country’s reliance on imported processed critical minerals, the White House said on Tuesday.

China has placed some rare earth elements under export restrictions in retaliation to Trump’s steep tariffs on Chinese goods.

(Reporting by Costas Pitas)