Nine years ago, Ian Higgins’ company in the north-west of England was jolted by bad news from Volkswagen. Prices for rare earths were rising, so Europe’s largest carmaker warned it was planning to discontinue use of all rare earth alloys in its magnets.

Mr Higgins braced for other clients to take a similar step, threatening his metal alloy maker Less Common Metals if the car industry moved away from the technology. Instead, to his relief, the scare died down.

Until now. Rare earths — a group of 17 obscure minerals that are embedded in our digital lives — have been thrust into the centre of the US-China trade war following warnings by Beijing that it could cut off supply. Just as in 2010, when the price rise accompanied a dispute between China and Japan, Mr Higgins is again facing disruption to the supply of raw materials.