Workers transport soil containing rare earth elements for export at a port in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China. File. | Photo Credit: Reuters Indian imports of rare earth elements (REEs) such as dysprosium, gadolinium, lutetium and samarium have been quite small, shielding domestic supply chains — at least for a few months — from major disruptions, trade data shows. As a part of the U.S.–China trade war, Beijing imposed export restrictions on seven “heavy” REEs, which cannot be exported out of China by refiners until and unless specific authorisation is obtained.  The developments highlight Indian attempts to more robustly secure access to critical minerals in general, and REEs in particular. As the government tries to woo firms to move more of their supply chains for semiconductors and defence electronics to India, access to minerals and REEs used in their production has been a parallel focus. So far, since many of these manufacturers are in relatively early stages of shifting production here, the quantities of REEs imported to India has been low. According to data shared by …