Washington:
As a trade war between the US and China, Beijing has suspended the export of many important rare earth elements, metals and magnets, threatening to close the supply to the west of the central components for weapons, electronics, autometers, aerospace manufacturers, semiconductor companies and a wide range of consumer goods.
According to a New York Times report, the Chinese government is drafting a new regulatory system for exports, and when policies are being implicated, magnet’s shipment, cars to manufacture almost everything ranging from cars to missiles.
According to the report, once the new regulatory system is implemented, it can permanently prevent supply from reaching some companies, including American military contractors.
American dependence on Chinese imports
The official rift on exports is part of Beijing’s vengeance against US President Trump’s trade war. China produces about 90 percent of the world’s rare Earth, which is a group of 17 elements used in defense, electric vehicles, energy and electronics industries. Seven categories of medium and heavy rare Earth, including Samaryum, Gadolinium, Terbium, DysproSium, Lutetium, Scandium and Yttrium- related items, have been placed in the export control list. The United States has only a rare earth, and most of its supply comes from China.
On April 2, Beijing placed the export restrictions on rare earth elements as part of a comprehensive package of tariffs and company sanctions on April 2, which made 54 percent of the restrictions in retaliation to increase the tariffs against most Chinese products of Trump to 54 percent. Analysts stated that export curb includes not only mining minerals but permanent magnets and other finished products that would be difficult to replace.
The move, which Beijing had long indicated, was possible, extending the stress of trade between the world’s two largest economies and left American manufacturers for the latest supply of important minerals that they have trusted for decades.
The NYT report states that now, the metal and special magnets made with them can only be sent from China with special export licenses.
However, Beijing’s system to issue these licenses is barely, which may pull this process that is causing a hurdle among industry officials and may run low in the current supply of minerals and products outside China.
A step to increase dominance
This step, which affects exports to all countries, is not only the latest performance of the US, China’s ability to make weapons a weapon on mining and processing of vital minerals.
While export control decreases with a lump sum restriction, the seeding can throw the shipment by restricting the number of export licenses. Lockheed Martin, Tesla and Apple are among American companies that use Chinese rare earth in their supply chains.
The US government has some rare earth reserves, but is not enough to supply its defense contractors to evergreen.
Beijing has already imposed a lump sum ban on the export of three metals to the US and slapped export control over many others.
Steps are particularly important to restrict the heavy rare earth as China has also strictly controlled these elements, in David Meriman Consultancy Project Blue, told the Reuters.
He said, “Currently only one HREE (heavy rare earth element) is a operation -centered operation outside China, Myanmar and Laos,” he said that China has introduced intimate participation in supply chains from Myanmar and Laos.
Why rare metals are important for America
The heavy rare earth metals installed under export suspension by China are used in magnets-it is necessary for many types of electric motors used in the manufacture of electric cars, drones, robots, missiles and spacecraft-operated cars.
