China ready to hit back at U.S. with rare earths - newspapers

FILE PHOTO: A bastnaesite mineral containing rare earth is pictured at a laboratory of Yasuhiro Kato, an associate professor of earth science at the University of Tokyo, July 5, 2011. REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao/File Photo

BEIJING (Reuters) - China is ready to use rare earths to strike back in a trade war with the United States, Chinese newspapers warned on Wednesday in strongly worded commentaries on a move that would escalate tensions between the world's two largest economies.

President Xi Jinping's visit to a rare earths plant last week had sparked speculation that China would use its dominant position as an exporter of rare earths to the United States as leverage in the trade war.