He said it Deng Xiaopingthe reform architect, in a Visit to a mine in inner Mongolia: Middle East has oil and China has rare metals. More than three decades later are the Chinese ram in the commercial war with the United States and the probable cause of the growing laziness of Donald Trump. China can lower the blind in months to the first world power if strangulates its exports and customs records point to it.
Shipments to the United States collapsed in March. Of molybdenum y bismuth Not a gram came out, the bars of bars of tungsten 84% fell and 44% of Telurio. China included the scissors for its exports already in the first cross rounds of tariffs. Shortly after, with 125% rates to American products and 145% to the Chinesehe disdained that media spiral as a simple game of numbers and advanced that he would fight with other weapons. His airlines have already canceled Boeing and Beijing has cut the annual Hollywood films quota but customs data discovered rare earths as their favorite weapon.
Effective intimidation
It is effective and intimidating. Unlike others, such as the sale of the massive American debt, it lacks side effects. Already when the cannons of Trump’s first commercial war were thundered there was another significant visit to a rare mineral mine. Were Xi JinpingPresident, and Liu Helahead of commercial negotiations, to Ganzhou (province of Jiangxi) after the nth innate tariff of Washington. It was no accident that the photographs illustrated all the covers of the national press or that Trump approved the next day A three -month dispensation to the prohibition of selling technology to Huawei. So, as now, China has demanded additional licenses for export and, ultimately, government consent is necessary in each case. Legal argument is the International Non -Proliferation Treaty of Nuclear Weapons that empowers its signatories to control the trade of “dual use products” (civil and military).
He strives with Brío Beijing now to cover the cracks to the wall. This week it was known that he had asked South Korea that will stop exporting any product to the American arms industry manufactured with its rare minerals. The letters sent by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce to companies, revealed the South Korean press, included the warnings that would close the tap if they ignored them. Rawing without rare earth, South Korea or any other country, causes cold sweats.
Precious metals
And it is that neither the present nor the future are understood without them. They will soon be more relevant than gas and oil, several analysts point out. To summarize it: almost everything that turns on and off with a switch needs them. They are the praseodimiohe neodymiumhe Gadolihe Samariahe Holmio… and other unknown names until the list of 17 minerals is completed. With them telephone or televisions, airplanes and electric cars are manufactured …
Many have already warned these days in the United States that also hospitals depend on them for their magnetic resonances or laser pointers in surgery. And without rare land cannot renew his army los fighters F-35, go missiles Tomahawk o los drones Predator, for making the short list.
Of the Rare earth China enjoys a quasi monopoly. Concentrates 61% of its production and 92% of its processing, according to the International Energy Agency. Between 2020 and 2023 the United States of China imported 70% of its rare earths. The picture points to the drama and has already warned its technology industry that comes very serious production problems if the commercial war is lengthened. Last week Trump asked for his business department to give ways to Increase national rare earth processing But just has a mine. Attenuating his dependence on China, in the event that he gets it, he will take at least a decade. And meanwhile, as the clairvoyant Deng already predicted, China will continue to punish that kidney.
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