In 2010, tensions flared between Japan and China over a fishing trawler incident in the East China Sea. The Chinese government reportedly blocked all exports of rare earth elements to Japan in retaliation for the detention of a Chinese fishing boat captain.
Japan at the time had grown almost entirely dependent on Chinese rare earth elements (REEs), importing more than 90% of the metals, which are used in everything from computers, smartphones and electric vehicles to wind turbines and even...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/us-companies-move-to-break-china-rare-earth-dominance
