In an interview with the Financial Times on October 31, Bessent expressed confidence that Washington would find an alternative to Chinese sources of rare earth metals within two years.
According to him, China’s influence over the US in the rare earth metals sector will last no longer than 12 to 24 months.
"We're going to go at warp speed over the next one, two years, and we're going to get out from under the sword that the Chinese have over us," Bessent said in an interview with CNN.
He added that both Eastern and Western US allies are working to establish their own supply chains to avoid reliance on Chinese rare earth metals, as China plans to impose export restrictions.