In Figure 10-8 we showed the value of Chinese exports of rare earth minerals, along with their average price and quantity sold, in three categories of exports. The source for the data in Figure 10-8 is the China Customs Statistics. In this problem, you will check the value of imports of rare earth minerals for the United States. To answer this question, you can access the Trade Stats Express database at the International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. (If you are using this textbook in another country, you should try to answer this question using the customs statistics for your own country.)

a. Start at the webpage www.trade.gov, and choose “Import Statistics” to find the “National Trade Data.” Choose “Product Profiles of U.S. Merchandise Trade with a Selected Market.” Select China as a “Trade Partner,” and select “Imports.” Change the “Item” to the Harmonized System (HS) codes. Choose the HS code 28, and display the U.S. imports from China within this HS code. You will find two 4-digit HS codes that include RARE_EARTH within their names. What are these codes? Graph the value of U.S. imports in each of these codes for 2008–18. What do you notice about the graphs during the key period 2010–12? What has happened to these imports in recent years?

b. Subtract the U.S. imports for these two HS codes from the total imports within HS 28 (as shown at the top of the display), and call this the remaining imports. Then graph the remaining imports over 2008–18. How does the shape of this graph compare with those in part (a)? 

c. Now inspect the value of imports for all other 4-digit HS codes within this category of HS 28. Are there any other codes that show a marked increase during 2011, with a reduction after that? What are these other codes? By inspection of their names, could these other codes include rare earth minerals?