BEIJING: They are used in everything from lightbulbs to guided missiles, but with China controlling 95 percent of the world’s supply of rare earth metals, they are also a potentially powerful weapon in Beijing’s trade war with Washington.
Here are some key questions and answers on the prized elements.
The bedrock of electrical manufacturing, rare earths are 17 elements that serve as key components in devices ranging from hi-tech smartphones and cameras to flat-screen televisions and computers.
China dominates the global supply chain — and Washington relies heavily on the Asian superpower to access the metals. So much so that the commodities have not been subject to the tariff increases imposed by Donald Trump’s administration on Chinese goods.
But Chinese state media is now suggesting that rare earth exports to the US could be cut in retaliation for American measures, sparking fear among manufacturers.
Simply put, rare earths give Beijing tremendous political and economic leverage in its spat with the United States.
The US this month threatened to cut supplies of US technology to Chinese telecom giant Huawei, citing security concerns and intensifying a trade spat that has seen both countries slap tit-for-tat tariffs on each other.
While Beijing has so far only issued cryptic warnings to suggest that rare earths could be its next weapon, “as a retaliatory trade measure, it’s a no-brainer on the surface,” according to OANDA senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley.
If Beijing chooses to make good on these threats, the impact on US manufacturers could be disastrous.
“China could shut down nearly every automobile, computer, smartphone and aircraft assembly line outside of China if they chose to embargo these materials,” James Kennedy, president of ThREE Consulting, wrote last week in National Defense, a US industry publication.
China has been accused of using its rare earth leverage for political and economic reasons in the past.
In 2014, the World Trade Organization ruled the country had violated global trade rules by restricting exports of the metals, claiming environmental damage from mining and the need to conserve supplies.
The US, European Union and Japan had appealed to the WTO, accusing Beijing of curbing exports to give domestic tech firms an edge over foreign rivals.
The WTO panel ruled that the quotas were “designed to achieve industrial policy goals rather than conservation.”
Four years earlier, Japanese industry sources said China temporarily cut off exports to Japan in 2010 when a territorial row flared between the Asian rivals, charges that Beijing denied.
Analysts say Beijing may not pull the trigger just yet, possibly because any restriction could spark a chase for alternative sources of rare earths.
Despite its dominance over supply, China is not the only country with sizeable reserves of the metals.
The United States Geological Survey estimated last year there were 120 million tons of deposits worldwide including 44 million in China and 22 million in both Brazil and Vietnam.
For much of the last century, the US dominated rare earths production.
But mining the metals creates huge amounts of toxic waste and in 2003 California’s Mountain Pass mine — then the sole US miner of rare earths — ceased production, following an environmental disaster a few years earlier.
China filled the void — helped in no small part by lax regulations and lower costs — and grew quickly to become the leading producer of the metals.
Rare earths “are abundant across the globe,” said OANDA’s Halley, but added that many countries are turned off by the heavy costs — financial and environmental — incurred in the production process.
“Much like everyone would like a new airport nearby, just not next door to them... the world has reaped what it has sown by handing the keys to China in this respect,” he said.
Rare earths: The latest weapon in the US-China trade war
Rare earths: The latest weapon in the US-China trade war
- China could shut down nearly every automobile, computer, smartphone and aircraft assembly line outside of China if they chose to embargo these materials
- Rare earths “are abundant across the globe,” said OANDA’s Halley
Progress for Ukraine talks in Paris uncertain with US focus shifting to Venezuela
- Ukraine’s allies are meeting in Paris to discuss security guarantees after a potential ceasefire with Russia. The Trump administration’s focus on Venezuela could complicate progress
- France and the UK lead efforts to strengthen post-ceasefire defenses for Ukraine, possibly with European forces
PARIS: Ukraine’s allies are meeting Tuesday in Paris for key talks that could help determine the country’s security after a potential ceasefire with Russia. But prospects for progress are uncertain with the Trump administration’s focus shifting to Venezuela.
Before the US capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, French President Emmanuel Macron had expressed optimism about the latest gathering of so-called “coalition of the willing” nations. For months, they have been exploring how to deter any future Russian aggression should it agree to stop fighting Ukraine.
In a Dec. 31 address, Macron said that allies would “make concrete commitments” at the summit “to protect Ukraine and ensure a just and lasting peace.”
Macron’s office said Tuesday’s meeting will gather an unprecedented number of officials attending in person, with 35 participants including 27 heads of state and government. The US will be represented by President Donald Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
Macron’s office said the US delegation was initially set to be led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who changed his plans for reasons related to the military intervention in Venezuela.
Participants seek concrete outcomes on five key priorities once fighting ends: ways to monitor a ceasefire; support for Ukraine’s armed forces; deployment of a multinational force on land, at sea and in the air; commitments in case there’s another Russian aggression; and long-term defense cooperation with Ukraine.
But whether that’s still achievable Tuesday isn’t so clear now, as Trump deals with the aftermath of his decision to effect leadership change in Venezuela.
Ukraine seeks firm guarantees from Washington of military and other support seen as crucial to securing similar commitments from other allies. Kyiv has been wary of any ceasefire that it fears could provide time for Russia to regroup and attack again.
Recent progress in talks
Before the US military operation targeting Maduro, Witkoff had indicated progress in talks about protecting and reassuring Ukraine.
In a Dec. 31 post, Witkoff tweeted that “productive” discussions with him, Rubio, and Kushner on the US side and, on the other, national security advisers of Britain, France, Germany and Ukraine had focused on “strengthening security guarantees and developing effective deconfliction mechanisms to help end the war and ensure it does not restart.”
France, which with the United Kingdom has coordinated the monthslong, multination effort to shore up a ceasefire, has only given broad-brush details about the plan’s scope. It says Ukraine’s first line of defense against a Russian resumption of war would be the Ukrainian military and that the coalition intends to strengthen it with training, weaponry and other support.
Macron has also spoken of European forces potentially being deployed away from Ukraine’s front lines to help deter future Russian aggression.
Important details unfinalized
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said during the weekend that potential European troop deployments still face hurdles, important details remain unfinalized, and “not everyone is ready” to commit forces.
He noted that many countries would need approval from parliament even if leaders agreed to military support for Ukraine. But he recognized that support could come in forms other than troops, such as “through weapons, technologies and intelligence.”
Zelensky said that post-ceasefire deployments in Ukraine by Britain and France, Western Europe’s only nuclear-armed nations, would be “essential” because some other coalition members ”cannot provide military assistance in the form of troops, but they do provide support through sanctions, financial assistance, humanitarian aid and so on.”
“Speaking frankly as president, even the very existence of the coalition depends on whether certain countries are ready to step up their presence,” Zelensky said. “If they are not ready at all, then it is not really a ‘coalition of the willing.’”
