r/worldnews • u/Significant-Colour • 1d ago

China strikes back at Trump with 34 percent tariff — bans rare earth exports to the U.S.

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/china-strikes-back-on-trump-tariffs-bans-rare-earth-exports-to-the-u-s
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328

u/kingtacticool 1d ago

China banning rare earth's is a super big deal

133

u/apoplepticdoughnut 1d ago

Yup. They don't just control their own mines, they have contracted mining rights in Australia and nigh exclusive access to rare earths in many African countries. US isn't ready to pick this fight.

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u/kingtacticool 1d ago

They also control something like 80% of the global refining capability.

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u/apoplepticdoughnut 1d ago

Uh huh. Add exclusive access to Iranian oil (the thing that allowed Britain to fight WW1 & WW2) and capital to buy Russian assets as the Kremlin crumbles itself over Ukraine and... congratulations Vladimir Donald, you've just made China the No. 1 superpower.

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u/walubilous 1d ago

And they can't build those capabilties up for themselves, because they started trade wards with the countries selling the equipment and machinery required to do so.

So even "owning" Greenland wouldn't fix that for them. :)

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u/Ashamed_Distance_144 1d ago

Oh you mean the administration didn’t do any research or homework as usual??

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u/AsherGray 1d ago

Why do you think they're threatening to take Greenland?

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u/Pristine-Test-3370 1d ago

Most underrated comment so far!

The tariffs from China will hurt, but the whole conversation about “critical minerals” worldwide started when China controlled ~95% of the supply of rare earths elements (REE). Things are a bit better now, but China still dictates who gets what. That is worth a lot more than Trump is able to comprehend.

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u/Zombatico 1d ago

Yea.

Can't really start our own chip fab factories without raw materials... this ban basically cuts the flaccid justification for tariffs at the knees.

Well, Trump is trying to get rid of the CHIP act anyway, so I guess all the companies that wanted to minimize our reliance on Taiwanese chips are shit out of luck.

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u/Adgonix 1d ago

I hope that won't make Trump more desperate to get Greenland and the rare minerals there