Posted on 10/19/2010 12:53:34 PM PDT by jhpigott
By KEITH BRADSHER Published: October 19, 2010
HONG KONG China, which has been blocking shipments of crucial minerals to Japan for the last month, has now quietly halted shipments of some of those same materials to the United States and Europe, three industry officials said on Tuesday.
The Chinese action, involving rare earth minerals that are crucial to manufacturing many advanced products, seems certain to further ratchet up already rising trade and currency tensions with the West. Until recently, China typically sought quick and quiet accommodations on trade issues. But the interruption in rare earth supplies is the latest sign from Beijing that Chinese officials are willing to use their growing economic muscle.
The embargo is expanding beyond Japan, said one of the three rare earth industry officials, all of whom insisted on anonymity for fear of business retaliation by Chinese authorities. They said Chinese customs officials imposed the broader shipment restrictions Monday morning, hours after a top Chinese official had summoned international news media Sunday night to denounceUnited States trade actions.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I wonder how the Liberal Free Trader Globalists will spin this one. I am afraid to read the posts.
This is what you get when you Free Trade with Communist China. And, the Liberal Globalists in both parties do not have the nads to slap a tariff on Commie Chinese goods to counter the Communist Chinese Trade War on the USA
Instead of the stupid “You’re an Isolationist/Protectionist” and “Smoot-Hawley caused the Great Depression” nonsense replies from the Liberal Free Traders...it is time to start getting tough on the Communist Chinese, and all other countries, who tariff and traxde barrier US exports
On October 15, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk announced that the United States has initiated an investigation under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act with respect to acts, policies, and practices of the Government of China affecting trade and investment in green technologies. The investigation has been initiated in response to a petition filed by the United Steelworkers (USW) on September 9, 2010.
The petition alleges that China employs a wide range of World Trade Organizations (WTO) inconsistent policies that protect and unfairly support its domestic producers of wind and solar energy products, advanced batteries, and energy-efficient vehicles, among other products, as China seeks to become the dominant global supplier of these products. According to the petition, these policies include export restraints, prohibited subsidies, discrimination against foreign companies and imported goods, technology transfer requirements, and domestic subsidies causing serious prejudice to U.S. interests. The petition further alleges that Chinas policies have caused the annual U.S. trade deficit in green-technology goods with China to increase substantially since China joined the WTO, making China the top contributor to the U.S. global trade deficit in the sector.
Related? http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2610619/posts
Happy to hear they finally care about the environment. I flatly don't believe it, and dismiss it as misdirection. They are perfectly happy to manufacture all of our mercury-containing CFL's, as well as export trinkets to our kids made of cadmium. They greedily buy containers full of our old computer and electronics waste because we cannot economically recycle it here. Part of the reason we exported all those jobs is that they are not constrained by EPA regulations. It's not just about cheap labor.
They have simply found a more palatable way to say, "You are losing a war you do not even know you are fighting."
If we could throw our electroplating waste into the nearest storm drain, we would still be doing all our own here.
We see the same thing with Mexico. So many of our foundries have closed, because it pollutes the air. So..Buy brake rotors for your car and see where they are made. All we did was move the operation across the River. The net effect on the enviroment is zero, at best.
We have to stop shuffling papers and get back to work here, IF we are allowed to.
Here! Here! I agree.
The best revenge is doing better WITHOUT China or its products. We can restart our nation on the road to a more modern industrial base.
No lasers, either.
We need to send teams to start exploring the bordering area of Mongolia, Afghanistan etc and other countries to see if they don’t have some of these minerals too.
Who owns those mines now?
Where is Hank Rearden when we need him?
I fully agree. I doubt it happens until something very bad happens.
He’s probably too busy working on his upcoming mythbusters appearance.
Eventually, China will have to acquire their Rare Earth metals from the rest of the world as the bulk of theirs are running short. While this may or may not have been our governments goal, the long term result is not necessarily a good thing for China.
Sometimes I think the same unstated goal for oil seems to be in effect, but maybe I'm just looking at it from a different perspective.
All those bands from the 60's are "Gold" to me !!
FloRida FReeper FRegards!
Who is John Galt?
Doesn't matter.
Whatever the Obama regime is doing is at the behest of the Steelworkers UNION, it seems.
Not good, not good at all...
Watching this one.
And who is ready to start building Galt’s Gulch?
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