Posted on 10/27/2025 3:36:04 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
China’s far-reaching rules already affect manufacturers of semiconductors, cars and many other products. They will soon become much broader.
Starting over a year ago, China has created an elaborate set of rules to cast a net over its exports of minerals the rest of the world can’t live without. These minerals with obscure names, mostly so-called rare earth metals, are vital for making a vast array of military and civilian goods, from fighter jets to semiconductors to cars.
The export controls have given Beijing enormous leverage because China is the dominant supplier. China is the sole producer, for example, of samarium, a rare earth metal used in many military applications. China is also the only country to master the difficult art of refining ultrapure dysprosium: The entire world’s supply, needed for superfast chips, comes from a single factory near Shanghai.
Perhaps most important, China makes 90 percent of the world’s rare earth magnets, used in electronics and electric motors. It is the only producer of some kinds of small magnets used in cars.
Beijing first invoked the new rules late last year. Officials suspended shipments to the United States of four metallic elements, but not yet rare earths, in retaliation after Washington placed tight limits on the export to China of the highest-performance semiconductors. China has since used export controls to put an increasingly tight grip on access to its rare earths.
China’s export controls have become a key point of contention with the U.S. government. They are expected to be discussed on Thursday when President Trump is set to meet with Xi Jinping, China’s top leader. Senior American policymakers expressed hope after trade talks on Sunday that China might defer enforcement of its new rules. China risks long-term damage to its own economy from the rules, by hurting the...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
...but they were so cheap and reliable, what, pray-tel, could be the downside of giving a COMMUNIST COUNTRY a chokehold over our economy?
Also, I hear that China’s terms for supplying Germany with Rare Earth is even harsher - China is outright DEMANDING technology transfer in exchange for the Rare Earth...otherwise just about everything high-tech in Germany shuts down (Germany gets 95% of their Rare Earth from China).
1. Chinese think long term, and plan strategically to own markets.
2. US Environazis block the mining and refining of domestic REE.
3. China buys off US politicians to maintain their stranglehold.
Rare Earth minerals are not that rare!
It’s the refining that takes hundreds of intensive steps that make them rare.
Didn’t Glasswax contain rare earths? LOL.
As secretary of state, Hillary Clinton approved the 2010 sale of a mining company to Russia. This gave the Russians control of 20 percent of U.S. uranium and placed U.S. national security at risk. In return, the Clinton Foundation received $145 million in pledges and donations.
Back then, mainstream reported this as President Trump trying to divert attention from the Russia impeachment scandal, which turned out to be 100% complete and total BS.
Senior American policymakers expressed hope after trade talks on Sunday that China might defer enforcement of its new rules. China risks long-term damage to its own economy from the rules, by hurting the...
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This phrasing has dominated the reporting of the Chinese trade talks. It’s all about how China is going to defer export controls. Or is hoped to defer export controls.
The markets are grabbing that and running with it. I have seen no quotes whatsoever from China confirming it.
bkmk
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