US eyeing Kachin’s rare earths: hope or new exploitation?
The Trump administration is reportedly considering a partnership with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) to access rare earth deposits in northern Myanmar and reduce US reliance on China's monopoly. However, residents fear mining’s potential environmental impact and the risk of further fuelling the civil war. Kachin activists are calling on Washington to uphold strict standards and pursue sustainable solutions to avoid repeating the mistakes of others.
Yangon (AsiaNews) – The Trump administration is turning its attention to Kachin State, in northern Myanmar, a region rich in rare earth minerals.
According to information obtained by Reuters, Washington would like to hold direct talks with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the ethnic militia that controls the mineral deposits in order to exploit local resources, which are essential to making electric cars, wind turbines, and military equipment.
China currently buys most of Myanmar rare earths. It also supports its military junta, while entertaining relations with the ethnic militias fighting it.
For many Myanmar citizens, who harbour resentment against the State Administrative Council (SAC), the junta’s formal name, US interest appears to represent a potential opportunity for peace.
However, plans to work with the KIA raise several concerns, particularly regarding the prospects for peace and the fate of the environment.
The KIA seized the Chipwe-Pangwa mining area in October 2024, which provides nearly half of the world's heavy rare earths, such as dysprosium and terbium.
Seeking to challenge China's stranglehold on global rare earth output, the United States views Kachin as a major opportunity.
Reuters reports that talks were held on 17 July in Vice President J. D. Vance's office, to explore the possibility of cooperation with the KIA, either through a peace deal with the SAC or bypassing the junta altogether.
Adam Castillo, former head of the US Chamber of Commerce in Myanmar, called Kachin minerals China's "golden goose" and urged the United States to cooperate with the KIA, suggesting possible cooperation with other regional allies, such as India, which is already part of the Quad, an Asia-Pacific multilateral forum.
The Indian company IREL visited Kachin in December 2024 to explore mining deals.
The Trump administration's goal is also to reduce the US$ 579 million trade deficit with Myanmar, which is why the president has threatened in recent weeks to impose a 40 per cent tariff on Myanmar goods entering the United States.
At the same time, the US president, after receiving a letter from SAC leader General Min Aung Hlaing lifted sanction designation on several junta allies, some of whom allow the import of Chinese weapons into Myanmar.
Many people in Myanmar consider the United States a more reliable partner than China or the SAC, which they hold responsible for plundering Kachin’s wealth. However, some observers have highlighted the region's infrastructure problems.
Swedish author Bertil Lintner, for example, described the plan as "totally crazy," stating that if the United States wants “to transport the rare earths from these mines, which are all on the Chinese border, to India, there’s only one road," Lintner said. "And the Chinese would certainly step in and stop it."
The SAC's failure to regulate mining, often linked to Chinese companies, has devastated the Kachin’s environment. Toxic chemicals such as arsenic have polluted local rivers and soil.
The 2024 Global Witness reports a 40 per cent increase in open mining sites in some parts of Kachin and Momauk Township.
This trade, estimated to be worth US$ 1.4 billion in 2023, is mostly illegal and harms the local population with pollution that kills livestock, contaminates water, and causes various diseases.
“Rare earth mining brings instant income, but it destroys our land when done wrong,” said Seng Ja, a 24-year-old Kachin activist, speaking to AsiaNews. “Kachin has suffered from war for years, and the SAC lets Chinese businesses take our resources, leaving polluted rivers and empty fields. We need assistance that protects our environment and people from SAC,” she added.
In areas under the junta's control, heavy machinery destroys local ecosystems to finance the war against ethnic militias.
Toxic runoff is polluting the Kok River, a tributary of the Mekong that also flows into Thailand, where arsenic levels four times higher than the World Health Organisation's safety limits have been recorded.
As the civil war in Myanmar intensified, the KIA imposed a 20 per cent tax to finance its resistance activities against the military junta. This has led to the expansion of mining activity.
“China buys our rare earths at low prices with the SAC’s blessing, tempting those linked to foreign buyers like the U.S.,” said Mung Dan, a local from Myitkyina of Kachi state, who shared his frustration.
“Myanmar is trapped in heavy fighting because of the junta. Every group is forced to use resources to survive. The SAC and Kachin rebel leaders know the environmental damage but don’t care the consequences as war costs are too high, and rare earth money is too tempting to ignore,” he added.
Many fear that the United States will end up supporting the war if it can buy Kachin's rare earths, unconcerned about the environmental damage caused by the SAC's mismanagement.
“The U.S. must not follow the SAC’s destructive path,” said Seng Ja. “If they want to help Kachin, they should support responsible mining, follow minimum environmental standards, and push for sustainable solutions, not just take our resources and leave a wasteland.”
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