China threatened an embargo of rare earths in 2019, during a trade war instituted by the Trump administration. Earlier this month, the United States, European Union and nine additional countries, including the UK, South Korea, Australia and Canada, signed an agreement to create additional supply. "'It is something that's a necessity elsewhere that gives them a sort of a decisive advantage in negotiations and pressure they can put on others because rare earth metals are so important in the manufacture of modern goods and weapons," John Hultquist, vice president of intelligence analysis at Mandiant, told SC Media. In June of 2021, the Department of Defense announced an agreement with the Australian firm Lynas to open a processing facility in Texas. The social media campaign launched by the pro-Chinese group dates back only a few months and continued through June on Twitter. In it, Dragonbridge actors pretended to be Texan residents upset about health and environmental effects of the plant.