Malaysia has given rare earth producer Lynas breathing space to clean up its waste, as the Australian company becomes a crucial global supplier of the metals amid the ongoing US-China trade war. Until recently, Lynas faced losing its licence in September unless it shipped out 450,000 tonnes of waste material from its US$800 million (S$1.1 billion) ore refining plant in Kuantan, Pahang. “There has been an apparent shift on Lynas. Dr Mahathir could definitely leverage on Lynas being the largest producer of rare earths outside China and use this as a ‘Malaysian card’ to play in the China-US trade war,” RSIS senior fellow Johan Saravanamuttu told The Straits Times.