US Vulnerable to China Rare Earth Monopoly, Researchers Find; These metals with unique properties make them essential ingredients in the production of high tech products

Epoch Times ^ | 07/05/2020 | BY ALAN MCDONNELL

[SeekAndFind]

The Chinese communist regime is ready—and willing—to use the country’s near monopoly in rare earth elements (REEs) as a trump card in any trade war with the United States, according to China policy analysts.

A report out this week from independent strategic consultants Horizon Advisory indicates that China is moving to take advantage of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus crisis to wrest control of strategic markets. Furthermore, Beijing’s fusion of its military and civil spheres—combined with its near-monopoly in rare earths—could make this market the Unites States’ Achilles heel.

According to China scholar and Horizon Advisory co-founder, Emily de La Bruyère, Beijing aims to make the United States directly and indirectly dependent on China for critical minerals and REEs.

REEs are difficult-to-recover metals with unique properties that make them essential ingredients in the production of state-of-the-art batteries, electromagnets, weapon systems, night-vision scopes, and other hi-tech products. According to the Department of the Interior, the United States is heavily reliant on imports of these critical mineral commodities—and in particular on imports from China.

“The PRC has been focused on rare earths for as long as it has existed,” de La Bruyère told The Epoch Times in a statement. “Chinese sources explicitly treat rare earths as tools of power—and coercion—in today’s globalized industrial system. This orientation rests on China’s military-civil fusion strategy: Beijing weaponizes integration into open, cooperative global systems for offensive ends. The United States, its allies, and its partners need jointly to recognize as much and respond, to scale.”

China’s Rare Earth Leverage

According to an earlier report from the Horizon team on the CCP’s efforts to subvert U.S. recovery investment, the Chinese regime views the CCP virus crisis as “an opportunity; a chance to expand its position in U.S. markets, supply chains, and critical infrastructure.”

[SuperLuminal]

This is, actually, "fake" news... it is a demonstration of wasted taxpayer's money to develop the report...

All the facts have been known and well documented since the late 1950's - mid 1970's...

"News" is defined as a report of something "new"...

This is fake news!

[ryderann]

For sure. Open the mines that were forced to close. The mountains where I live (WNC) are chock full of minerals and closed mines.

[Sacajaweau]

We’ve know this since we started to think Green. I think the President tried to do something but the House blocked it. I’ll have to go back and see what I can find.

[outofsalt]

China increasingly finds itself running a food trade deficit. Of course, they have a medicine trade export surplus. It’s complicated enough to get very messy.

[Sacajaweau]

https://nationalcenter.org/ncppr/2020/03/31/trump-seeks-mother-lode-of-rare-earth-minerals/

[Captainpaintball]

Golly gee! I wonder how that happened?

I know this is one news for you, but in case someone is reading all the replies...

Nixon and Kissenger and their NWO masters. Fast forward to the 1980s when they went from making toys and combs and cheap garbage, to slowly ingratiating themselves with free traitors like Archibald Cox and others. They bought Magnequench in the mid 1990s, and when Duh-Bya Arbusto bumbled on the scene, they closed the factory and opened an identical on in China. And got some EPA simps to close our only mine, which is still closed under Mr. Drain The Swamp.

[AdSimp]

If we really want this, we have to be prepared to subsidize US production. All China has to do is ramp up production to bankrupt any US company willing to risk a fortune.

[Vermont Lt]

Why do you think we are in Afghanistan? $14T of REM in them thar hills. It ain’t about anyone’s freedom.

[arthurus]

“Rare earth” elements are not terribly uncommon and are found in many soils as trace components. They are found in more concentrated form in Greenland which we have whatever access to we need but we have to construct the mines. Buying or annexing Greenland would really be a good idea for a second term Donald Trump.

[henkster]

Watch the environmental lawyers try to shut down our attempts to open our own mines. And where does the money come from to pay these armies of high-priced lawyers? The money trail goes back to Beijing.

[PIF]

Ask Bill Clinton who closed the world’s biggest rare earth mine and turned it into a national park.

[SunkenCiv]

relevant selections from the rareearth keyword, chrono:

• U.S. Strengthens Its Rare Earth Supply Chain With New Processing Plant [2020]
• Sen. Ted Cruz Urges Development of Domestic Rare Earth Supply Chain, Calls Reliance on China a Risk [2020]
• Renewable Energy Will Only Be Possible With Massive Increases in the Supply of Critical Minerals [2019]
• Thorium Energy Alliance on Senator Marco Rubio's S. 2093 for Thorium, Rare Earths and Manufacturing [2019]
• Rare Earth: Afghanistan Sits on $1 Trillion in Minerals [2019]
• Rare-Earths Mining Shows Exactly How China Cheats The United States Through 'Free Trade' [2019]
• Rare Earth Minerals and Thorium: A solution to several pressing technical and political problems. [2019]
• First rare earth processing facility outside of China to be built in Texas [2019]
• "Japan found 'semi-infinite' deposit of rare-earth minerals - 'game-changer' in comp. with China" [2019]
• Caught between Trump and its biggest market, America's sole rare earths mine is an unusual victim [2019]
• Rare Earth Metals: China's 'Nuclear Option' In The Trade War [2019]
• China Threatens To Cut Rare Earths Supplies To The U.S. -- Bad Idea [2019]
• A Looming Technology-security Minerals Crisis? [2018]
• Why North Korea Is An Untapped Goldmine For Tech Companies, And For China [2018]
• Trump's North Korea Play: a Ploy to Secure Vast Deposits of Rare Earth Elements? [2018]
• Japan just found a 'semi-infinite' deposit of rare-earth minerals -- and it could be (trunc) [2018]
• Graphene and other carbon nanomaterials can replace scarce metals [2017]
• North Dakota coal studying supply of valuable rare earth elements [2017]
• US coal ash highly rich in rare earths, scientists find [2016]
• Smart phone ingredient found in plant extracts [2015]
• Free Markets Smash Chinese Rare Earth Minerals Monopoly [2015]
• Rare Earth Metals Were Supposed To Be The 'Can't-Lose' Investment -- Look How That Turned Out [2014]
• Blunt, Manchin Introduce Bill To Encourage Domestic Production Of Rare Earth Minerals [2014]
• China Again Deploys The Rare Earth Weapon [2014]
• Greenland votes to allow uranium, rare earths mining [2013]
• Japan gains right to search for rare metals on high seas [2013]
• Rush to find gold rush-era discards that could fuel cellphones, TVs [2013]
• U.S. Spends $120M USD to Set up Rare Earth Research Center to Counter China [2013]
• China 'stockpiling rare earths for strategic reserves' [2012]
• Hitachi unveils motor without 'rare earths' [2012]
• Thorium, Heavy Rare Earths, China & the Loss of Manufacturing Jobs [2011]
• Huge rare earth deposits found in Pacific: Japan experts [2011]
• Rare Earths Seen Growing Less Rare [2011]
• China holding rare-earth materials back from export [2011]
• In China, the true cost of Britain's clean, green wind power experiment: Pollution [2011]
• I Was a Rare Earths Day Trader (or How I lost half my savings in a global investment bubble) [2011]
• China holding rare-earth materials back from export [2011]
• In China, the true cost of Britain's clean, green wind power experiment: Pollution [2011]
• I Was a Rare Earths Day Trader (or How I lost half my savings in a global investment bubble) [2011]
• U.S. at risk of rare earths supply disruptions [2010]
• Rare Earth Elements in US Not So Rare, Report Finds [2010]
• Rare earth's rocketing into a bubble? [2010]
• China Said to Widen Its Embargo of Minerals (EPA Closed the last mine in the U.S.) [2010]
• China Is Said to Halt Exports to U.S. of Some Key Minerals [2010]
• China's Rare Earth Supply That The World Relies On Could Now Run Out In Just 15 Years [2010]
• The Politics of Rare Earth (For the serious investor thinking of diversifying) [2010]
• Here's What You Need To Know About The Politics Behind Rare Earth Metals [2010]
• You Don't Bring a Praseodymium Knife to a Gunfight [2010]
• Amid Tension, China Blocks Rare Earth Exports to Japan [2010]
• Boeing launches search for crucial rare earth elements [2010]
• China's monopoly on 17 key elements sets stage for supply crisis [2010]
• America's Fast Track to the Third World [2010]
• China Freaks Out The World - Restrictions On Export Of Metals Crucial For National Defense [2010]
• Prepare to lose metals, says UN group [2010]
• Peak Everything? Forget peak oil. What about peak lithium, peak neodymium, and peak phosphorus? [2010]
• As hybrid cars gobble rare metals, shortage looms [2009]
• Magnequench: CFIUS and China's Thirst for U.S. Defense Technology [2008]
• RARE EARTH MAY BE CHINA'S CHECKMATE (A must read!) [2006]
• Beijing Acquires More U.S. Technology [2003]

[I got the rope]

Wakanda Forever!

[E. Pluribus Unum]

The ocean is full of rare earth metals.

[BeauBo]

From the article that Sacajaweau posted at 25:

- Executive Order 13817 (20 Dec 2017) “called on agencies across the federal government to develop a strategy to reduce the nation’s susceptibility to disruptions of critical mineral supplies.”

- The National Defense Authorization Act, passed late in 2019, seeks to wean the government and defense contractors away from seeking their supply of rare earth minerals from hostile countries such as China, Russia and Iran.

- The U.S. Army is talking with American mining companies about domestic options for “heavy rare earths” to be used in weapons programs. (DoD has new mandates to buy American for critical supplies).

More actions to secure our supply chains generally (pharmaceuticals specifically) are coming out from the Coronavirus fiasco.

In addition to the USA restarting mining REEs in California, and building processing facility in Texas, Australia has stepped up its capacity for both mining and processing as well (since the Trump Administration raised the issue).

[himno hero]

if you know of anyone interested in buying, processing or stock piling various REE, titanium, tantalum and niobium you can make contact with me via private mail.

[eyeamok]

Maybe we should ask the Sierra Club what they would do

[joe fonebone]

It was several years ago that a rare earth mine in California was bought by the Chinese and closed. Why not just confiscate it and reopen it

[PGR88]

Rare earths mines need to move a lot of dirt, need a lot of processing, and can create a lot of waste.

And with China willing to do the work, and thinking strategically, it became a matter of default for the industry to shut down in the USA. A perfect example of how the leftists, environmentalists, the nanny-state and globalists sold the USA out.

[Left2Right]

These minerals are really not “rare”, they are everywhere. However, they are all highly toxic and U.S. environmental laws limit their extraction and refinement, so most are sourced overseas.