Michael Silver

Articles by Michael Silver

Senate Democrats Must End Environmentalists' 'Catch-22'

Last Thursday, House Republicans–with the support of a handful of Democrats, and no support from the White House–passed the National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act. The Act is an important first step to getting past the U.S. environmental movement’s

Senate Democrats Must End Environmentalists' 'Catch-22'

Cracking the Chinese Monopoly on Rare Earths

This week those of us who have been in the rare earths business since Deng Xiaoping first opened China to market economies have experienced more change than in the past 20 years. As many are now aware, China presently produces

Cracking the Chinese Monopoly on Rare Earths

WTO Says China Illegally Restricting Export of Metals

This week, the World Trade Organization (WTO) issued its much anticipated ruling on whether China’s export policies for critical metals violated the agreement it first entered in 2001 to be part of the WTO. The highest court within the WTO,

Strategic Metals and American Competitiveness in the 21st Century

The importance of strategic metals to the U.S. economy came into sharp focus last November when China cut off Japan’s rare earth metals supply over a territorial dispute and Japan immediately backed down. Since then, Americans have learned that the