China Halts Rare Earth Exports Globally (fortune.com)
- Reference: 0177025375
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/04/15/0144259/china-halts-rare-earth-exports-globally
- Source link: https://fortune.com/2025/04/14/china-rare-earth-exports-halt-trump-trade-war-tariff-retaliation/
> After Trump unveiled his "Liberation Day" tariffs on April 2, China retaliated on April 4 with its own duties as well as export controls on several rare earth minerals and magnets made from them. So far, those export controls have translated to a halt across the board, cutting off the U.S. and other countries, according to the [3]New York Times . That's because any exports of the minerals and magnets now require special licenses, but Beijing has yet to fully establish a system for issuing them, the report said.
>
> In the meantime, shipments of rare earths have been halted at many ports, with customs officials blocking exports to any country, including to the U.S. as well as Japan and Germany, sources told theÂTimes. China's Ministry of Commerce issued export restrictions alongside the General Administration of Customs, prohibiting Chinese businesses from any engagement with U.S. firms, especially defense contractors. While the Trump administration unveiled tariff exemptions on a range of key tech imports late Friday night, China's magnet exports were still halted through the weekend, industry sources told the Times. Beijing's export halt is notable because China has a stranglehold on global supplies of rare earths and magnets derived from them. They also represent an asymmetric advantage in that rare earths constitute a small share of China's exports but have an outsize impact on trade partners like the U.S., which relies on them as critical inputs for the auto, chip, aerospace, and defense industries.
[1] https://slashdot.org/~AmiMoJo
[2] https://fortune.com/2025/04/14/china-rare-earth-exports-halt-trump-trade-war-tariff-retaliation/
[3] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/13/business/china-rare-earths-exports.html
"Stranglehold" ? (Score:3)
"Beijing's export halt is notable because China has a stranglehold on global supplies of rare earths [...]"
Is this still correct ?
I thought we knew years ago that China was trying to shut us out of rare earths and would use them to blackmail us and we were preparing replacement sources?
What happened?
Re:"Stranglehold" ? (Score:4, Informative)
2013:
"Rare-earth mineral substitutes could defeat Chinese stranglehold"
https://archive.ph/61ILW
Re: (Score:3)
I think the word here is could . Mining those minerals is not without environment risks and the Chinese are cheaper, if only because they mined them first. I don't think we wanted to defeat the Chinese stranglehold that much.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
That's why Trump wants to invade or force Greenland to be a part of USA so that Trump and friends can strip mine the whole island without caring about the environment and the people that live there
Re: (Score:2)
Apart from the immorality and violations of International Law of annexing the territory of a sovereign state, I imagine actually extracting rare earths in Greenland is going to cost a helluva lot more than the price China can extract and sell rare earths for. The plan seems like the delusional rantings of a narcissist suffering mid-stage dementia....
Hmmm....
Re: (Score:3)
Art of the deal baby, don't negotiate for those Greenland minerals (do they even exist?) but just threaten war and piss off the other party. That's why we elected him, for those sweet deal making skills.
Re: (Score:3)
They didn't mine them first. They're cheaper because taking over that business was an economic decision made by the government...and stably adhered to.
"Rare Earths" aren't rare, but they're hard to separate. I suspect that China is planning to convert it's "rare earth" production into "more valuable product" production, and sell those products at a markup...and possibly only to friends. But the cost of that supply chain will keep everyone without strong government support out, as China could flood the m
Re: (Score:2)
2007:
"The US now imports over 90 per cent of its so-called “rare earth” metals from China, according to the US Geological Survey. If China decided to cut off the supply, that would create a big risk of conflict, says Reller. Reller and Graedel say urgent action is required."
https://archive.ph/Q4m9g
Re: (Score:3)
2007 was also the year of peak oil imports to the US.
I know that rare earth wasn't as thoroughly replaced by domestic supplies, I just bring up oil from the same year to point out how useless the article is.
Re: (Score:3)
> 2007 was also the year of peak oil imports to the US.
> I know that rare earth wasn't as thoroughly replaced by domestic supplies, I just bring up oil from the same year to point out how useless the article is.
Currently, the US gets "only" 70% of its rare earths from China.
The US has ONE major rare earth mine -- Mountain Pass, in California. But as it happens, most of the processing and refining is done by China.
Re:"Stranglehold" ? (Score:4, Interesting)
[1]This article gives an overview of the issues [eastasiaforum.org].
> Companies with ambitions to develop new mines are thus trapped between a price that makes project returns unattractive for potential lenders and customers that are happy to retain the status quo...Instead of developing a true supply chain-based strategy, the bulk of Western lending seeks to expand supply in an already depressed market.
Perhaps the real answer is that China put a lot more effort into maintaining their monopoly than the other side did in trying to break it. They tried, but somewhat lazily.
> ... led to the bankruptcy of Molycorp, whose Mountain Pass mine in the United States would later be bought by MP Materials and funded through a series of agreements that gave Chinese company Shenghe control of its output.
[1] https://eastasiaforum.org/2025/01/17/australias-rare-earth-policy-and-pricing-misaligned/
Re: (Score:2)
> Perhaps the real answer is that China put a lot more effort into maintaining their monopoly than the other side did in trying to break it. They tried, but somewhat lazily.
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org].
Sodium ion batteries were being developed at the same time as Lithium batteries, and Lithium won out. Doesn't mean sodium ion batteries don't work.
And we've all been talking about China's rare earth issues for a long time now. One might be tempted to call their investment advisor to put a bit of money into companies making Sodium ion batteries.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium-ion_battery
Re: (Score:2)
Complacency
Re:"Stranglehold" ? (Score:4, Interesting)
The issue is that rare earth elements are typically acquired as part of some other large mining operation. If you want the produce them affordably you need to be able to compile extracting them with something else. Everyone was hoping that they could just keep getting them cheap from China, instead of at much greater cost from elsewhere.
Re: (Score:2)
> The issue is that rare earth elements are typically acquired as part of some other large mining operation. If you want the produce them affordably you need to be able to compile extracting them with something else. Everyone was hoping that they could just keep getting them cheap from China, instead of at much greater cost from elsewhere.
Which is why I'm betting on Sodium-ion batteries.
Meanwhile, a whole lot of smartphone addicts are probably freaking out.
Re: (Score:3)
You’re calling this blackmail? It’s simply reciprocal. Shit in the pool of your trading partners and then act surprised when they get upset.
Look at that. (Score:4, Interesting)
I can't believe that senile belligerence only makes everything feel like a position of strength. Crazy stuff.
Re: (Score:3)
To be fair, I'm running out of northern hemisphere countries left to boycott.
In an act of war, the poutine-eating philistines to the north just banned Vegemite.
[1]https://www.smh.com.au/politic... [smh.com.au]
[1] https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/pro-vegemite-albanese-backs-cafe-owner-as-canada-cracks-down-on-iconic-spread-20250415-p5lrxr.html
Re: (Score:2)
Well that is bad but it's no Marmageddon [1]https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/... [nzherald.co.nz]
[1] https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/marmageddon-sends-nz-into-a-spin/DAE6NUTSH2X7AP6TB7VHQYUKWU/
Re: (Score:2)
Those bloody cunts. Let's send them Rupert Murdoch as punishment! After all, it worked on the Yanks.
Re: (Score:2)
> To be fair, I'm running out of northern hemisphere countries left to boycott.
> In an act of war, the poutine-eating philistines to the north just banned Vegemite.
> [1]https://www.smh.com.au/politic... [smh.com.au]
Utterly bizzarre. "Added B vitamins" is a bad thing? Was there a rationale? A lot of people benefit quite a lot from them, including people who for one reason or another don't process them correctly. And they are in enriched flour(enriched with B vitamins because processing removes the vitamins) , energy drinks and other foods.
So it appears the Canadian Politicians are as nutty as our own.
[1] https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/pro-vegemite-albanese-backs-cafe-owner-as-canada-cracks-down-on-iconic-spread-20250415-p5lrxr.html
Re: (Score:2)
Frustrating thing about all the news about this is none of the articles give the Canadian rationale, one article says maybe the Vegemite has not enough B vitamins, another says the Canadian law dictates a certain amount of folate because of birth defects and yet another has a quote from the Vegemite company stated that they don't actually export to Canada so the shop owner must have imported it through other means.
Did it contain too much? Too little? Nobody says in any articles, just that a rule exists and
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
The worst part is that the rest of the world has to suffer along with America. Not just the economic damage, or the new permits to export this stuff, but the inflation too. Sony has said that the PS5 will increase in price, both for the US and for Europe. We are being made to absorb some of the Trump tariffs, even though we don't have to pay them.
Re: (Score:2)
In his defense, to the narcissist, as long as people react like you're a big powerful man with a mandate then, in your mind, that's what you are.
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Tell us you know nothing of the subject, without telling us you know nothing of the subject.
Ask yourself this question: where is the refining of rare earths conducted, for basically the entire world? Answer: China. Because it's spectacularly polluting and China doesn't give a fuck.
It doesn't matter where the ore is mined, if the refineries are all in China. And good luck "speeding up" building multi-billion dollar refining operations and getting environmental permitting for that in a matter of weeks.
Trum
Long time (Score:5, Informative)
They've been talking about doing this for a long time. Deng Xiaoping in 1992 said, [1]"the Middle East has oil, China dominates rare earths" [jstor.org]. [2]We talked about it on Slashdot decades ago [slashdot.org] (a fraction of a decade is enough to turn the noun plural).
The [3]Graph at the beginning of this article [theoregongroup.com] gives a good picture of rare earth mineral production around the world, including the impressive overproduction in recent years.
The problem is more than just mining the minerals (which the US does), it's also producing them into in [4]usable magnet form [federalregister.gov], which is combining neodymium mostly with iron. With initiatives already underway, the US is expected to be able to reach 50% of its own magnet production by 2026.
[1] https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep00363?seq=2
[2] https://science.slashdot.org/story/09/09/08/2119201/China-Considering-Cuts-In-Rare-Earth-Metal-Exports
[3] https://theoregongroup.com/investment-insights/the-wests-pursuit-of-rare-earths-hits-resistance-from-china/
[4] https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/02/14/2023-03078/publication-of-a-report-on-the-effect-of-imports-of-neodymium-iron-boron-ndfeb-permanent-magnets-on
Sources (Score:3)
This is the whole OPEC in the late 2000's thing again. OPEC tried spiking oil prices, which meant oil that was expensive to get out the the ground became profitable. After a few years of new wells being brought online, the price collapsed. There are plenty of sources of these rare earth metals. China just made it profitable to get them up and running.
Re:Long time (Score:4, Informative)
1.6 decades is...plural.
Re: (Score:2)
No, "16 years" is 8 characters - "decades" is 7.
If your best comeback is grasping for some sort of inane technicality, at least make sure that technicality is factual.
Re: (Score:2)
> No, "16 years" is 8 characters - "decades" is 7.
> If your best comeback is grasping for some sort of inane technicality, at least make sure that technicality is factual.
You're counting the space?!? That's like treating zero as a number!
And there it is (Score:3, Interesting)
I was waiting for something like this to happen. I give it until next week when the orange goon will "graciously" roll back more tariffs and give more exemptions.
The world needs these exotic components to keep running at this point in history. Any long-term disruption will have a far reaching effect on a wide range of industries.
This is what happens when you make things up as you go along because you have no idea what you're doing.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
> I was waiting for something like this to happen. I give it until next week
In the meantime the goal was achieved - Americans are talking about this issue (like here on Slashdot), politicians have been woken up to it again, and production in the USA can begin ramping back up.
Re:And there it is (Score:4, Insightful)
The goal was/is to make money via insider trading.
Re: (Score:2)
> In the meantime the goal was achieved - Americans are talking about this issue
Americans have never stopped talking about manufacturing in America, so that's bullshit.
Americans are also now talking about trade imbalances without understanding what they mean, just like you, was that the goal?
> and production in the USA can begin ramping back up.
The reason it left was because wealthy people in charge decided it should leave. No amount of average Americans talking about it moves the needle in any direction because the wealthy don't give two shits about what we think. In fact, they give not even one shit.
Re: (Score:3)
Also this is just sortoff a fantasy playground for Americans, very telling in this poll that 80% of Americans say "America would be better off if more American's worked in manufacturing, however only 23% of those same Americans say they "would be better off if I worked in a factory" so everyone else should be turning the screws, but "not me, I like my high paying service job, that's for other folks"
[1]Nostalgia for manufacturing will make the US poorer [ft.com]
[1] https://www.ft.com/content/845917ed-41a5-449f-946f-70263adbaeb7
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Production in the US won't ramp up to anything like the needed levels to prevent massive cost increases and shortages, and even that will take years.
The way to do this is ramp up your supply first, not screw every industry that relies on it and hope they survive somehow.
Re: (Score:2)
Moreover, China is probably ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to the technologies of rare earth extraction. Production elsewhere will be far more expensive.
Re: (Score:2)
> [...] and hope they survive somehow.
This is the part I don't understand, if the point of these tariffs is to build up American manufacturing.
If you want American manufacturing, you should be subsidizing American businesses. Especially small businesses who will fail without it.
Re: (Score:3)
That's another example of how China does it better. The government sets a goal to develop an industry, gets solidly behind it, and doesn't change its mind 2 years later when there is an election.
Re:And there it is (Score:4, Interesting)
Will China reverse these new export controls though? Even if Trump walks back, they may not do so themselves until the full 125% tariff is removed, or maybe not at all to prevent the US from getting into a better position and trying the same shit again.
Re: (Score:3)
Looking back at when trump and Zelensky had that meeting about the USA getting rare earth materials from Ukraine it would appear that maybe Zelensky did actually have some cards and trumps little temper tantrum has come back to bite him in his fat butt.
Re: (Score:2)
I was told that war would be ended about 4 months ago
Re:And there it is (Score:5, Insightful)
> I was waiting for something like this to happen. I give it until next week when the orange goon will "graciously" roll back more tariffs and give more exemptions.
> The world needs these exotic components to keep running at this point in history. Any long-term disruption will have a far reaching effect on a wide range of industries.
> This is what happens when you make things up as you go along because you have no idea what you're doing.
The problem is, the damage is done. The US is no longer a trusted trade partner, let alone a top level trusted one. Countries the world over are looking to other nations for trade.
For years China's growing influence in the Asia Pacific region has been a concern... so what did Trump do... Put tariffs on everyone which sent APAC nations straight into Chinas waiting arms... Well fucking done, the issue is now worse.
Re: (Score:2)
> I was waiting for something like this to happen. I give it until next week when the orange goon will "graciously" roll back more tariffs and give more exemptions.
> The world needs these exotic components to keep running at this point in history. Any long-term disruption will have a far reaching effect on a wide range of industries.
> This is what happens when you make things up as you go along because you have no idea what you're doing.
While I don't disagree with the stupid tariffs, don't be in panic mode. There are alternatives to Lithium-ion batteries. Sodium-ion is waiting in the wings, safer, doesn't use exotic elements. It doesn't have quite the same energy density, But everything won't fall apart if Pooh Bear and Cheeto are having trouble being nice.
Re: (Score:2)
So where can we get these Sodium-ion batteries?
Who is manufacturing them?
Re: (Score:2)
So what you're saying is that we have to destroy the nation in order to save it, right?
Historical context: [1]https://www.countryadventures.net/we-had-to-destroy-the-village-11-controversial-decisions-that-changed-the-course-of-the-vietnam-war/ [countryadventures.net]
[1] https://www.countryadventures.net/we-had-to-destroy-the-village-11-controversial-decisions-that-changed-the-course-of-the-vietnam-war/
Great, sobering discussion of rare earth issues (Score:4, Interesting)
Misha Glenny just did an excellent series covering rare earths. Link here: [1]https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/s... [bbc.co.uk]
This is pretty bad news. However, Beijing's strategy seems unclear to me. They wanted to paint themselves in contradiction to the US, as a reliable trading partner for other countries. This really doesn't help their case. Trump has really made life shittier for everyone now. I guess there's going to be a scramble to use induction motors in EVs in the coming months and years.
[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/series/m001cdr7
Re:Great, sobering discussion of rare earth issues (Score:5, Informative)
As per the article, they are setting up a licensing system before resuming exports. I would guess that this licensing system will be intended to prevent them being sold on to the USA, with any instances of this being grounds for license revocation. I would not expect this to take very long to set up, but perhaps a slight delay is intended to focus minds and dissuade other Countries from allowing them to be sold on to the USA.
Re: (Score:2)
That seems plausible. But will still emphasise that they are not a trading partner in whom Western countries can fully trust. In the UK, that's been emphasised pretty sharply in recent days with British Steel.
Re: (Score:3)
Yeah but that's still not reliable. Reliable would have been announcing that, giving warning, implementation time then finally implementing it. Might not take long, but it's just reminded everyone very firmly that China too has control of crucial things and both can and will cut them off with no warning if they feel it's OK. We all kinda knew that, but assuming it wasn't the case was a good working assumption. Now it is not.
Re: (Score:2)
Probably done this way to prevent hoarding before the licence comes in. A lot of companies tried to beat the tariffs by importing big stockpiles before they hit.
At this point Beijing is so far ahead of the US in terms of stability, they can afford to cash in a little bit of that reputation.
Re: Great, sobering discussion of rare earth issue (Score:2)
Nope it was done that way because then it would have wrecked the investment if, say, people close to the president were shorting companies.
Re: (Score:2)
"contradiction" you mean "contradistinction". There is no contraction to what China is doing except with promoting itself as free trader.
Re: (Score:2)
> This is pretty bad news. However, Beijing's strategy seems unclear to me.
They're reaching for anything they can use as leverage. Maybe they'll remove the export controls next week.
Or maybe it's only Trump who is that capricious.
Re: (Score:2)
Most likely they're halting to put in legal barriers to stop exported materials ending up in the US. I'm sure if dementia Don chickened out (again) that suddenly the need for restrictions would also stop.
Re: (Score:2)
> Misha Glenny just did an excellent series covering rare earths. Link here: [1]https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/s... [bbc.co.uk]
> This is pretty bad news. However, Beijing's strategy seems unclear to me. They wanted to paint themselves in contradiction to the US, as a reliable trading partner for other countries. This really doesn't help their case. Trump has really made life shittier for everyone now. I guess there's going to be a scramble to use induction motors in EVs in the coming months and years.
I'll have a listen, don't have time at the moment. But much of the hand-wringing over this seems to be non-technicals who believe there is no other source of portable energy. We either have Li ion batteries, or the world goes back to the stone ages.
[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/series/m001cdr7
The delay is a power play? (Score:2)
> So far, those export controls have translated to a halt across the board, cutting off the U.S. and other countries, according to the New York Times. That's because any exports of the minerals and magnets now require special licenses, but Beijing has yet to fully establish a system for issuing them, the report said.
I'm guessing the delay to "establish a system" is deliberate to remind the world of their advantage. China is not subtle in its threats to other countries that criticize it for any reason.
Re: (Score:2)
That is one way of looking at it. The other is, it just reminded the world you can't depend on China. The world is relearning a lesson they should have learned in elementary school.
I am starting to believe that the human race can't be educated.
I wonder if the republicans realize that all the power that they give to the current administration will be passed onto the next which they may not control.
I thought that rare earths... (Score:3)
were what the Donald wanted to buy Greenland for.
Then He also wants to get some from Ukraine...
Employment (Score:2)
So how many people are those new American factories employing?
Re: (Score:2)
Two people will be employed.
One to feed the guard dog, and one to make sure the guy who feeds the dog doesn't touch any of the robots.
Re: Employment (Score:2)
And they'll be trying to buy an automated gun turret so they don't have to have those two guys.
Re: (Score:2)
Both will be H1Bs because it's too hard to find local American talent...
No, they don't (Score:5, Insightful)
"Beijing's export halt is notable because China has a stranglehold on global supplies of rare earths and magnets derived from them."
No, the only have a lock on very-low priced and mines with zero polution controls and safety systems.
Undercut (Score:2, Interesting)
This is just one of the global tactics companies like China have done to undercut the USA and drive production out of our country. As a capitalistic economy, things that are not profitable to produce in the USA cause production to go out of business due to competition. China flooded the globe with cheap rare-earths, and mining in the USA ceased.
The same thing happened with oil several years ago, when fracking in the USA resulted in huge numbers of small companies springing up and making money off oil again.
Re: Undercut (Score:2)
It's not China's fault that American companies and people are locked into finding the cheapest resources and prices in general, then cease to function if that isn't available. That's the weakness of capitalism. Now that consumers and companies are addicted to the lowest prices, there is no way to go back.
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
Exactly, security demands we produce these things domestically. Reality says we will never be able to do it as cheaply as others are able.
The case here isn't economics it is security. The problem is economics and the only answers are some kind of protectionist strategy. Everyone knows advanced microcomputer technology and communications equipment are necessary parts of the national security picture. It is at least widely suspected that rare earths are needed to make electrification of transportation worka
And when Trump blinks once again... (Score:5, Informative)
... grown men with tears in their eyes will salute and thank him for wiping trillions from the market, annihilating their 401Ks and sending the US economy into something worse than a recession.
He is still doing insane damage (Score:3, Insightful)
That we are never going to recover from. Good example of that is he was trying to be all art of the deal and pressured Europe to increase their military spending. So they did. Normally this would be good for America since it would mean it would buy more weapons from us but since they can't trust Trump They are now cutting off their supply of American weapon systems and building out their own. It's going to be a huge blow to our economy.
And then there's the uncertainty of having a senile madman. The mark
Re:And when Trump blinks once again... (Score:4, Informative)
What do you mean, up? The S&P 500 is where it was in September last year. Little math reminder for you: if the market drops 10% one day, and then rises 10% the next day, you're still 1% below where you started from.
Re: And when Trump blinks once again... (Score:2)
Goog was over 200 in February. It's now 161. Markets are only up since the tariff pause, not overall.
Re: (Score:2)
> What goods are having trillions of dollars in 401ks when China or someone else decides the price of of the electric motor your need for the car you want to buy is now going to be 400% more expensive because they say so, and you have zero power to do anything about it?
Well, that's a flip-flop. I thought the right-wing talking point was that China was trying to screw us by dumping EVs at below cost?
Regardless, the logic is stupid because the current alternative to 'China might up the price on something s
Rare earth mining limits in USA self imposed (Score:4, Informative)
The USA used to produce all manner of rare earth metals until there were laws limiting the sale and disposal of thorium. Ore in the USA that is rich in rare earth metals tends to be also rich in thorium. This wasn't a big problem some time ago as thorium had a number of uses. Thorium glows a bright white when heated so it was used in gas lantern mantles, and filaments for light bulbs. Thorium apparently helps in making good lenses. There's steel alloys with thorium that are useful for welding and corrosion resistance. There's probably more but that list should get the point across.
The sale of thorium was then restricted when there was concern over the radioactivity. This is quite silly for a number of reasons. Laws on disposal of "radioactive materials" meant the mining tails containing "too much" thorium had to be hauled off to a radioactive waste disposal site, at considerable expense. With few places to sell the thorium, and it costing money to bury it in one hole versus another, that made all kinds of mines unable to make money selling rare earth metals.
We can get these mines open again fairly quickly with a few changes to laws that never made sense in the first place.
A bonus on having thorium rich mining tails is that is a source of fuel should we decide thorium fission reactors are a good idea. It is a good idea but that has get to the powers that be in Congress, DOE, EPA, White House, a few state capitols, and a few other places I'm likely missing.
The USA is not lacking in rare earth metals. The issues is a matter of silly laws making mining of these metals unprofitable. Being unable to get the metals from China is not likely enough to change the costs enough to make it profitable. It likely just means we import from Australia, Brazil, India, or something. We need the laws changed. I suspect it might happen now, but there's going to be resistance on this from a number of places and it might be enough to keep it from happening, at least until things get far worse for us.
Re: (Score:2)
The problem isn't just the mining, it is refining the ore to a usable form. Almost all of that is done in China. The US can't scale up making WW2 era artillery shells for Ukraine, it isn't going to have refining capacity for rare earths anytime soon either.
Neodymium not on the list/ (Score:3)
From what I can tell, the rare earths [1]affected [reuters.com] are samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium, and yttrium. Those are important ingredients for a bunch of technologies, so there will definitely be effects. But I don't see neodymium on that list, indicating that NdFeB magnets aren't on the chopping block...yet.
[1] https://www.reuters.com/world/china-hits-back-us-tariffs-with-rare-earth-export-controls-2025-04-04/
Re: Neodymium not on the list/ (Score:3)
Just learn how to start a fire without anything but sticks and you will be happy.
Re: (Score:2)
They are almost certainly intentionally keeping the big money maker off the list to not boost the viability of competitors.
Brilliant! (Score:2)
The US is poised to completely topple our corrupt and fragile economy that's already seeing population collapse damage and stock collapse and real estate collapse. What should we do?
I HAVE AN IDEA! Let's piss off the entire world simultaneously so nobody is on our side. That should work, right?
Re: Brilliant! (Score:2)
Soon there will be a war, and Donald Trump will be able to say he didn't really do anything to cause it. That's what he does.
Just a reminder (Score:2)
Congress can stop this today. They can take away Trump's tariff powers the simple resolution that he can't veto because it's not a law it's a resolution. The Senate could do it immediately but they pussied out and resolution they passed requires the house to also pass a resolution even though the Constitution gives them authority in matters of international affairs similar to how the house controls the purse strings.
Still if a handful of Republicans in the house are forced to stop Trump then all this bu
Re: (Score:2)
The genie is out of the bottle though, the mask slipped. Autarky for China, dependence for the west is Pooh's plan, his only plan. So what now? Even a gradual tariff scheme to rebuild economic sovereignty for the west will now likely instantly get this exact same response from China.
You can't cover the power struggle back up and try to manoeuvre out of the disaster created by globalists slowly. Everything is in the open now.
As absurd as it sounds (Score:2)
I would not be surprised if Trump reaches out to Russia for these materials in exchange for lowering sanctions.
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I'd be surprised if he doesn't, but it may take a while before it happens. Right now he's pretending he's angry about Ukraine negotiations.
Good news! (Score:2)
Now we can all forget about the "renewables", AKA unreliables and build nuclear fission and eventually fusion reactors. Well done, China!
Rare earths are not rare (Score:2)
The thing that many people forget, or maybe do not know: rare earths are not particularly rare. They just don't show up in convenient concentrations, unlike iron or copper. Rare earths are distributed basically everywhere, in low concentrations. When you look at a mining site, all it has is a slightly less horribly low concentration. Which means: you have to process a lot of dirt to get a little bit of rare earths. Big mines, lots of nasty chemicals for the refining - something best done far, far away from
FAFO (Score:3, Insightful)
Well done Donnie.
Re: FAFO (Score:5, Funny)
Trump around, find out
Re: FAFO (Score:5, Insightful)
I wish the rest of us didn't need to keep finding out.
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so much winning! art of the deal!
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Yes it was part of the plain. To alienate china, now he has "superficial" justification for starting WW3
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Naval invasion of Greenland next, I suppose. "We have to stop Greenland's rare earths from falling into the hands of a country with huge reserves of rare earths!" Christ, even the imperialists who speared the Mexican-American War at least tried for some sort of rational justification.
Re: FAFO (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah so Trump is detaining people without due cause. TDS. So Trump is trying to shut down every educational institution and basically threaten everyone who speaks against him. TDS. So what if Trump has a death camp in El Salvadore. TDS TDS TDS.
Re:FAFO (Score:5, Insightful)
Notice the part about "special licenses"?
This is likely all being done to stop us here in the US from getting rare earth minerals, not the entire world. Once they have their licensing program running they'll likely start exporting again to everyone but us with the threat of a revocation of a country's license if anyone resells to us. The temporary halt is probably just to stop us from stockpiling them while they get the licensing program up and running.
China's actions so far in this trade war have, unlike our own, been very predictable. Given they have no motivation for keeping a ban on the rest of the world in place it seems incredibly unlikely they will.
Re: FAFO (Score:2)
Very plausible Szenario.
Re:FAFO (Score:4, Insightful)
> China's actions so far in this trade war have, unlike our own, been very predictable
And pragmatic. They don't bow to the orange clown like so many other countries. They hold their ground.
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They have to halt exports to all countries because the US will simply proxy their purchases from other countries. How do you think Russia is sustaining? Or Iran, or any other country the US alienates? The only solution is to get rid of Trump. Sooner or later the US will figure that out.
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> They have to halt exports to all countries because the US will simply proxy their purchases from other countries
Yes, I said this. Also, as I said, they will likely open back up to other countries again once the licensing program gets going. Otherwise, why make a licensing program? None of our allies will want to resell to us in any meaningful amount and risk losing their license, especially after Trump's recent actions towards them.
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> Given they have no motivation for keeping a ban on the rest of the world in place it seems incredibly unlikely they will.
Well, halting shipments to other countries who want the rare earth metals will help turn those countries against us (as if help were needed). Kind of grade-school strategy but when you've got a toddler in charge you have to meet him at his level
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Oh, that's exactly what's happening.
Trump is a fucking idiot running around with a baseball bat. Other countries are actually listening to advisors that understand modern economics and know exactly where to punch to inflict the most damage in the shortest amount of time. And the answer there, is rare earths, and US Treasuries.
Oh look, treasury yields are spiking again...
Re:FAFO (Score:4, Insightful)
of course it is his fault . Even I could see it was an inevitable response in a trade war and I don't claim to be a stable genius,