China's stranglehold on the global rare earth supply is expected to "stay firmly in place" despite the recent summit between its President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump, according to Fitch Group's BMI. On May 14-15, Trump made his long-anticipated visit to Beijing -- his first in nearly a decade -- to address various global security and trade concerns. Amongst the most closely watched topics were rare earths, for which China controls about 60% of the world's mined output and nearly all of the minerals' processing capacity. Last year, the Asian nation leveraged its near-monopoly position on the rare ... (full story)