New Delhi, Sept. 22 -- United States President Donald Trump is set to host China's Xi Jinping for the state visit this week. The Chinese premiere rolls into Washington DC with China's trade engine roaring- what does this mean? Beijing has a bargaining chip in this intensifying geopolitical and geoeconomics tensions- Rare Earths.

China is sitting on an abundant stash of Rare Earths and Trump wants in. Xi Jinping has also seen a surge of trade for China globally, and therefore is not looking to compromise in this meeting with Trump, whose war on Iran may have hurt American wallets.

Notably, the flow of rare earth shipments from China to the US has already begun to weaken. Chinese customs data showed exports fell 13% year on year in August...