A comparison between EQR and G6M, page-227

China bans rare-minerals exports to the US — threatening everything from chips to EVsSupply-chain standoff…

China’s testing the Biden admin’s mettle by restricting the US’s access to rare minerals used to make semiconductors, solar panels, and EV batteries. FYI: China produces about 60% of the world’s rare minerals and processes 85% of them. Beijing’s ban came a day after the Biden admin further restricted China’s access to advanced US tech. The tit-for-tat trade war between the US and China is expected to only escalate if President-elect Trump follows through on his hefty tariff proposals.

Hold your tungsten: Both countries say their mounting restrictions stem from national-security concerns — namely, that the other nation could use its exports to build advanced military tech.

Turning the (periodic) tables… Beijing’s ban will cut the US off from China’s supply of valuable elements including gallium and germanium, which China is the largest producer of. Those two minerals are essential for making products like chips and cars. FYI: the US relies on China for more than half its germanium and a fifth of its gallium, which it hasn’t mined in nearly four decades. China’s also banning exports of antimony and tungsten, which the US relies on to make bullets, shells, and explosives. The ban could also affect EV makers: China said it would more closely monitor exports of graphite, a component in EV batteries.

Bans can backfire… The US could struggle to shore up its supply of rare minerals without imports from China. But mainland mineral companies will also lose a major buyer in the US, and that could become permanent if America figures out its own supply in China’s absence (which could take years). After China temporarily blocked Japan’s access to its minerals in 2010, Japan slashed its reliance on Chinese supply by 33%.