Hopefully, someone will look BEYOND the bottom line and get behind non-Chinese rare earth production, regardless of what China does. I have stated this before and I'm sure that many others feel the same. I will happily pay more than double the current market prices for any items that are not manufactured in Asia. Again, nothing against Asia. They should make stuff for themselves. Shipping everything all over the world before it ever gets used has to stop. Big money a-holes manipulating markets through deceit has to stop. If you buy from a company or country that is playing this game, you are supporting terrorists of the worst kind.
I'd like my magnets and lithium to come from Utah. I don't care how much it costs. The future "cost" for all of these "savings" we've experienced during the industrial revolution is something none of us can afford to pay. Industrial activity really hurts the planet that supports us. We should be going about industrial activity in the most environmentally sensitive way possible, which isn't cheap. Everything we make from now on should be extremely reliable, last forever, and be absolutely necessary item for the advancement of our society. Cheap crap costs more in the long run. We all know this. We should refuse to buy disposable products that waste these resources and cause all of this damage for nothing. It should be illegal to produce throw away items made with non renewable natural resources. The resources need to be reserved to create reliable technology that will last for years and create more power than it took to produce.
Think how many solar panels could be made from all of the resources used to create I-phones and LCD tv's........
Think about how many electric vehicles could be built with the magnets and batteries that go into the RC market and get trashed before doing anything useful. Yeah, driving RC cars is fun. I'd much rather be in a full size one though.....accomplishing an actual task......while also having fun.
So, for all of those potential manufacturers and inventors out there, just try to buy your supplies and get your products made by people that care about the planet and are as local to you as possible. Mark your products up enough to make it worth your while, and sell them to people that understand why the prices are what they are and that appreciate the alternative to Chinese disposable crap.
Marko in specific......if the little Colossus motors were wound like Thud wound mine, with the endcap I designed, and a skirt bearing, and were built by craftsmen that were your neighbors, I would gladly pay $700 US for them. Just as an example.