Rare earth elements have become far more than an industrial commodity. They are now closely tied to national security, advanced manufacturing, defense technology, electric vehicles, robotics, and global competition over strategic supply chains. At the center of this competition are the United States and China.
China has built a dominant position across much of the global rare earth supply chain, particularly in processing, separation, and permanent magnet manufacturing. The United States, meanwhile, has been trying to rebuild domestic capacity and reduce its dependence on Chinese materials. Recent Chinese export controls have demonstrated how quickly restrictions on rare earth materials and magnets can affect manufacturers outside China, turning rare earths into an increasingly important tool in the broader U.S.-China economic and strategic rivalry.
USA Rare Earth (NASDAQ: USAR) is one of the companies positioned around this structural shift. Rather than focusing on a single stage of the supply chain, the company is attempting to build an integrated rare earth platform spanning mining, processing, separation, metal and alloy production, and permanent magnet manufacturing. Following the completion of its Serra Verde combination in September 2026, USA Rare Earth now has a broader international resource base and a more vertically integrated business model.
Data Source: Goodfellow
What Is USAR? Understanding the Critical Minerals Company
USA Rare Earth is a U.S.-based critical minerals and advanced materials company focused on developing a domestic and allied rare earth supply chain. The company is headquartered in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and operates or is developing assets across the United States, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and other locations. Its business model is designed to connect upstream rare earth resources with downstream processing and magnet manufacturing.
USA Rare Earth became a publicly traded company through a business combination with Inflection Point Acquisition Corp. II. Its common stock began trading on Nasdaq under the ticker USAR on March 14, 2025.
The company's strategy has become increasingly focused on vertical integration. Instead of simply mining rare earth-bearing materials and selling them as raw materials, USA Rare Earth aims to participate in multiple stages of the value chain, including mining, separation, metallization, alloy production, and NdFeB permanent magnet manufacturing.
This approach is particularly important because the strategic bottleneck in rare earths is not simply the availability of ore. Mining capacity, separation technology, refining, metal-making, alloy production, and magnet manufacturing are all critical links. China has built substantial capabilities across these stages, while the United States has historically had much less domestic capacity.
Data Source: USA Rare Earth
Why Are Rare Earth Elements Important to the U.S. Economy?
Rare earth elements are a group of 17 metallic elements with specialized magnetic, optical, and chemical properties. Despite their name, many rare earth elements are relatively abundant in the Earth's crust. The challenge is that economically viable deposits can be difficult to develop, and separating individual elements requires sophisticated processing technology.
The most strategically important rare earths include neodymium (Nd), praseodymium (Pr), dysprosium (Dy), and terbium (Tb), which are used in high-performance permanent magnets. These magnets are important for electric motors, wind turbines, industrial equipment, robotics, aerospace systems, defense applications, and other advanced technologies.
The strategic issue for the United States is that having a mineral deposit does not automatically create a secure supply chain. Processing and magnet manufacturing can be just as important as mining.
China's position illustrates this point. According to Reuters, China's share of global rare earth refining declined from around 90% in 2023 to approximately 85% in 2025, but the country still retains a dominant position. The International Energy Agency has estimated that China's share could remain around 70%-73% of global rare earth refining by 2035 even if currently planned projects are completed.
This imbalance has made rare earths part of the broader strategic competition between Washington and Beijing. The U.S. has increasingly treated critical minerals as an economic and national-security issue, while China has increasingly used export controls as one of its tools in managing strategic supply chains.
Data Source: The Financial Express
USA Rare Earth's Business Model: From Mining to Rare Earth Magnets
USA Rare Earth's long-term strategy is to build an integrated supply chain rather than operate as a conventional mining company. Its operations can broadly be divided into four stages: upstream resources, rare earth processing and separation, metal and alloy production, and permanent magnet manufacturing.
Round Top Rare Earth and Critical Minerals Project
The Round Top Project in West Texas is one of USA Rare Earth's most important U.S. assets. The project is designed to provide a domestic source of rare earth elements and other critical minerals. However, investors should distinguish between resource potential and commercial production. As of June 30, 2026, the Round Top Project remained in the exploration and development stage, and the company had not yet commenced construction or commissioned the mine. This means Round Top represents a potentially important long-term source of feedstock, but its contribution to revenue depends on successful development, financing, permitting, construction, processing performance, and commercial production.
Rare Earth Processing and Separation
Mining rare earth-bearing materials is only the first step. The material must then be processed and individual rare earth elements separated before they can be converted into metals, alloys, and magnets. USA Rare Earth commissioned a hydrometallurgical demonstration facility in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, in June 2026. The facility is designed to test processing flowsheets for Round Top feedstock, third-party feedstocks, and recycled magnet material. The company subsequently produced commercial-grade dysprosium oxide and neodymium-praseodymium oxide samples from recycled magnet swarf. The development of processing and separation capabilities is strategically important because this is one of the areas where China's dominance remains particularly strong.
U.S.-Based Rare Earth Magnet Manufacturing
USA Rare Earth is also developing domestic NdFeB permanent magnet manufacturing capacity in the United States. Its Stillwater, Oklahoma facility has been commissioned and has entered commercial production. The first phase is expected to ramp toward approximately 600 metric tons per year, while Phase 1A and Phase 1B are expected to bring total Stillwater capacity to approximately 1,200 metric tons per year by the first quarter of 2027. The company is also developing a much larger facility in Blacksburg, South Carolina. The planned facility is expected to produce approximately 6,400 metric tons per year of sintered NdFeB magnets and 5,000 metric tons per year of strip-cast metals and alloys. Together with the planned Stillwater expansion, USA Rare Earth expects total domestic capacity to reach approximately 10,000 metric tons per year of NdFeB magnets and 10,000 metric tons per year of strip-cast metals and alloys.
Data Source: USA Rare Earth
USA Rare Earth Stock Performance and Valuation
USA Rare Earth began trading on Nasdaq under the USAR ticker in March 2025 following its business combination with Inflection Point Acquisition Corp. II. Because the company is still building out its mining, processing, and magnet manufacturing platform, traditional valuation metrics such as price-to-earnings ratios provide limited information. Investors are instead likely to focus on future production capacity, project financing, rare earth prices, government support, offtake agreements, and the company's ability to convert strategic assets into commercial revenue.
As of September 15, 2026, USAR closed at approximately $15.40 per share, according to historical market data. Its 52-week trading range was approximately $11.46 to $43.94, illustrating the high volatility associated with the stock. The volatility is understandable given the company's position between two very different narratives: one is the long-term construction of a Western rare earth supply chain, while the other is the short-term uncertainty surrounding commodity prices, project execution, financing, and U.S.-China trade policy.
Data Source: Bitunix
What Could Drive USAR Stock?
China-U.S. Trade and Rare Earth Export Controls
China's export policy may be one of the strongest external catalysts for USAR. If China expands export restrictions, Western manufacturers may accelerate efforts to secure alternative suppliers. This could increase demand for non-China rare earth materials and magnets. At the same time, USA Rare Earth's own exposure to China-origin inputs means that aggressive restrictions could increase its costs or disrupt operations before its domestic supply chain is fully established. Therefore, investors should distinguish between higher strategic demand for Western rare earth supply and the immediate operational impact of Chinese restrictions on USAR itself.
Rare Earth Prices
Rare earth prices are an important variable for USA Rare Earth because higher prices can improve the economics of mining and processing projects while increasing the strategic value of alternative supply sources. However, higher prices do not automatically translate into higher earnings for USAR. The company must still complete projects, secure feedstock, scale production, qualify products with customers, and manage capital expenditure.
Round Top Project Development
Progress at Round Top could become an important valuation catalyst. The market is likely to pay close attention to feasibility studies, permitting, financing, construction timelines, recoveries, production costs, and expected output. A successful transition from resource development to commercial production would materially change the company's profile from a development-stage critical minerals company toward an integrated producer.
Rare Earth Processing Capacity
Processing and separation are strategically important because mining alone does not solve the U.S. supply-chain problem. USA Rare Earth's ability to demonstrate commercial-scale separation and processing outside China could therefore become an important part of its investment thesis. The Wheat Ridge demonstration facility and the company's broader processing plans are early steps toward this objective.
How to Buy and Trade USA Rare Earth (USAR)
For investors looking to gain exposure to USA Rare Earth, the traditional approach is to purchase USAR shares through a U.S. stock brokerage account. Investors generally need to open a brokerage account, complete identity verification, deposit funds, and then place an order to buy USA Rare Earth shares on Nasdaq. However, buying U.S. stocks directly may involve brokerage account requirements, cross-border fund transfers, and transaction fees. Traditional stock investing also primarily benefits investors when the stock price rises, which may limit flexibility when market expectations change.
Another option is to trade USA Rare Earth stock contracts through cryptocurrency trading platforms such as Bitunix. Compared with directly purchasing USAR shares, stock contracts can provide more flexible ways to participate in the market. Traders can establish long positions when they expect USA Rare Earth's stock price to rise or short positions when they expect the stock to decline. Bitunix USAR contracts offer leverage of up to 20x, allowing users to gain exposure to larger positions with less initial capital. Before trading, users need to register a Bitunix account and complete identity verification (KYC). As leveraged products can magnify both gains and losses, users should understand the relevant risks and manage their positions carefully.
