According to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the United States wants to reduce its dependence on China for key imports such as rare earths and solar cells.
She is therefore committed to strengthening trade ties with South Korea and other trusted allies, Yellen, who arrived in Seoul on Monday, told Reuters.
It is important to prevent the People's Republic from strategically exploiting the "excessive dependence" on the USA and stopping deliveries, as it has done with other countries.
The ways in which "geopolitical rivals are able to manipulate us and threaten our security" would need to be limited.
While calling for supply chain diversification, Yellen said China is open to US concerns in other areas and has taken some constructive steps.
"I don't want to give the impression of a mere escalation of hostilities with China."
Rare earths are 17 chemical elements that are essential for many high-tech products such as cell phones and also in the defense industry.
They also play an important role in the production of electric cars.
Rare earths are much more common around the world than their name would suggest.
However, their costly funding is firmly in Chinese hands.
The USA covers around 80 percent of its requirements from the People's Republic of China.
In Germany, Chancellery State Secretary Jörg Kukies recently complained that there was too much dependence on rare earths from China.
One should not repeat the mistakes made with oil and gas with dependence on Russia with other commodities, said Kukies in early July.