As policymakers and business leaders in both the U.S. and China rev up electric-vehicle production, they find themselves reliant on the insecure supply of a raw material critical to both countries’ economies.
A grassy plain in Nevada’s Humboldt County is where the contest between the U.S. and China for mastery of the global economy could be won or lost.
Called Thacker Pass, the empty patch of land, 230 miles from Reno, looks decidedly uninteresting, home to little more than scrubby bushes. But it’s what lies beneath that places the site at the center of the twenty-first century economy: Lithium.
That once-obscure metal, long suffering in the shadow of copper, iron ore and other widely cherished commodities, has now claimed the global spotlight. The challenge of climate change has elevated lithium into the indispensable ingredient for the green energy age. As all the world’s major economies push aggressively to electrify their transportation, lithium — and the batteries made with it — will power that revolution.
But here’s the problem: There won’t be enough lithium to go around, at least in the near term. The U.S., for instance, produces hardly any â
Exclusive longform investigative journalism, Q&As, news and analysis, and data on Chinese business elites and corporations. We publish China scoops you won't find anywhere else.
A weekly curated reading list on China from David Barboza, Pulitzer Prize-winning former Shanghai correspondent for The New York Times.
A daily roundup of China finance, business and economics headlines.
We offer discounts for groups, institutions and students. Go to our Subscriptions page for details.
For years, Amazon recruited Chinese sellers aggressively, profiting handsomely from the surge in product offerings and low prices. But many Chinese sellers' bad practices — from selling counterfeits to manipulating reviews — now have the e-commerce giant on the defensive.
