Shares of rare-earth producers on Thursday led the stock markets in the Chinese mainland higher after the US decided not to increase tariffs on rare earths and other critical minerals from China.
Why did the US threaten to raise tariffs on "essentially all remaining imports from China" while sparing rare earths? The answer is simple: Without a reliable domestic supply, the US must rely on rare earths from China to supply industries of strategic importance.
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Rare earths are vital to many modern technologies and a wide array of weapon systems used by the US military, but China controls the vast majority of the world's supply. Some statistics show China currently produces about 95 percent of the world's rare earths. It will take many years if the US wants to rebuild its rare-earth industry and increase its domestic supply to reduce its dependence on China's minerals.
That's long enough for China to win a trade war against the US, during which time China's monopoly on the production of rare earths will help Beijing control the lifeblood of the US high-technology sector.
It will test China's wisdom in deciding how to fully utilize its advantage in rare earths. Jin Canrong, an expert on US studies at the Renmin University of China, said the "ace" in China's hand is a complete ban on exports of rare earths to the US. However, this is not the only way to make the US economy feel pain.
China can raise the price of rare earths exported to the US in response to higher tariffs on Chinese products. The US decision to omit rare earths from the China tariff list shows how much the country depends on these minerals from China. This can give Chinese rare-earth producers the confidence to raise prices. In the short term, US users won't be able to find alternatives, so they have to accept higher prices.
The trade war is prompting China to rethink its rare-earth strategy. The country has various tools in hand, such as cutting the number of rare-earth mining licenses, raising market access standards for miners, reducing exports of primary rare-earth products, and restricting outbound and inbound investment in related industries.
China will likely be wary of a total export ban to avoid escalating tension with the US, but it won't ignore the opportunity to safeguard and maximize its interests.
By Hu Weijia Source:Global Times Published: 2019/5/16 22:14:46
>US need for rare earths an ace in Beijing’s hand
The US has plenty of idle rare earth mines. Tariffs on rare earths would make it profitable to ramp up production; however, why would you do that if you can get it cheaper somewhere else?
That is the point, it would cost time and money to develop the rare earth industry in America.
>That is the point, it would cost time and money to develop the rare earth industry in America.
No, it really wouldn't. Known and proven resources are already mapped. Some mines have everything there; they are just idle. It could be done on the order of months to perhaps a year if China shut down export tomorrow. It would be mildly painful, but not the end of the world.
We need to mine asteroids.
There is enough stuff on the moon to make a blast furnace. Silica and titanium. Use the sun and essentially a giant magnifying glass to make more building materials. Bring in asteroids.
We can't do it now because it would upset the world's economy if rare minerals suddenly fluxed. Remember, you can't sell someone something unless they need it. So for now we just.. Feed losers on welfare until they get diabetes and then we pay for that too.
The U.S. has always preferred to strip other country's resources before using their own.
"Strategic reserves"
Like how we have 95% of the worlds helium stored in old salt mines "just in case" dirigibles become important again.
Pretty much this. The Chinese "trump card" of rare earths is a nothingburger. Chinks subsidised their rare earths below market prices, causing everyone else to drive down their production. They can drive it up if necessary, it will just take a little time
>we have 95% of the worlds helium stored in old salt mines
fucking based
US reserves aside, DPRK has the world's largest reserve and Japan has another large deposit. China currently has a monopoly on operational mines but they don't have a monopoly on deposits.
Orange cubes. Little pretty orange cubes....
dose radiation effect them in any way?
Chinas gonna try to wait us out.
Good luck, Ill be surprised if China still exists in ten years they are 100 trillion in debt, they are dependent for food and oil, they have almost no fresh clean water left Chinas fucked
The thing aboure rare earths is they aren't rare
They're just cheap to extract in countries without environmental protection and all that shit, so it makes sense to have them do it and fuck their countries up, if push came to shove you could easily source them literally anywhere else, its just we enjoy watching the chows fucking the place.
We have plenty of the shit. It's just too expensive to mine here due to environmental regulations. Have to treat rare earth tailings as nuclear waste because reasons. Probably some senator who sits on the board of whatever chink mining interest is exporting them.
This.
Let china ruin their ecology and strip mine the easy to acquire minerals, and we force them to subsidize it too.
We're basically a nation of hoarders. We have like 500 active m1a1 Abrams, a thousand more awaiting refit, still producing new ones, and I'm pretty sure we still have pershings and Patton's shoved away somewhere too. "Just in case".
This guy fucks. There's a reason China has a vested interest in tanking our talks with DPRK. They're trying to maintain relevance and we're increasingly sidelining them. Anyone who doesn't see this is objectively retarded.
What do you think the whole Afghanistan thing has been about?
It’s absolutely adorable that shills are posting Chinese news sources as evidence the US is losing the trade war. Fucking adorable.
Helium is used for much more than Airships. MRIs require helium for instance.
heroin
Wrong. There is over $1T of lithium and other minerals which are known reserves. They were known to the Soviets in the 1980s.
We built all of the B-52s we ever built from 1952 to 1962, and have been actively using them ever since.
USA could just buy rare earth minerals from an allied middle men.
China would also lose control over the market if they raise prices because that would make many other mines profitable. The resources are there, just not profitable to extract because the Chink are underbidding everyone with their subsidized extraction industry.
Hahaha how are rare earths even a thing? I mean just make more of them and they aren't even rare anymore hahaha.
Basically the WTO forced China to sell rare earth elements without export duties and quotas in 2015.
Remember the last time China got into a trade war with the west?
They did not want trade their tea and became opioid addicts.