But to do that, American manufacturers need to have access to rare earth materials -- which China supplies.

WHITEHOUSE: President Obama Speaks on Enforcing Trade Rights with China | The White House

This case involves something called rare earth materials, which are used by American manufacturers to make high-tech products like advanced batteries that power everything from hybrid cars to cell phones.

WHITEHOUSE: President Obama Speaks on Enforcing Trade Rights with China | The White House

These low temperatures allow for a quick start-up, a more compact design, and less use of rare-earth materials.

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Materials such as platinum and rare earth elements are crucial to electronics, increasingly scarce on Earth and abundant in space.

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In a recent example of government policy being a drag on stocks, Beijing imposed restrictions on rare earth exports in an attempt to keep the materials close to home as China tries to establish itself as the go-to nation for the key ingredients used in making everything from lithium batteries to iPods.

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The prestigious Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials rejected his study of a rare earth magnet because it lacked physics-related measurements that Branagan and his adviser deemed irrelevant.

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China's domination of the global production of rare-earth minerals in particular has fuelled the search for other sources of materials essential for everything from electronics to wind turbines.

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