Why China’s Mineral Monopoly has emerged as a major obstacle in American tariff talks: ‘They keep practically all cards’

China’s exploitation for its monopoly on the rare elements of the Earth has become a great contagious point in high -interest trade talks with President Trump, and experts warn that the US should be prepared for the worst.

Beijing has angered Trump officials by failing to release his blow to the exports of seven heavy “heavy” land metals that are essential for tools such as smartphones and electric cars, as well as military equipment such as aircraft and fighter fighter drones.

On Friday, Trump smokes that China had “completely violated” the terms of a preliminary trade agreement in Geneva, which included a 90-day tariff ceasefire that goes by mid-August. Trump did not elaborate, but US representative Jamieson Greer said a concern was that China “continues, you know, slow down and choke” the course of critical minerals for SH.BA

Treasury secretary Scott Bessent Sunday said Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will soon speak to ironing trade issues, including a dispute over critical minerals.

“What China is doing is that they are carrying products that are essential for the industrial supply chains of India, Europe.

“They are holding some of the products they agreed to issue during our agreement – maybe it’s a look at the Chinese system, maybe it is intentionally. We’ll see after the president speaks to the party leader.”

Rare soil metals are needed to produce most technology equipment and advanced military equipment. Reuters

However, any conversation from China and a trade ceasefire is “slightly more than the wearing of windows”, according to the executive of the long mines Mark A. Smith, whose Niocorp firm has a rare development of land in Nebraska.

“China is strategically choosing minerals for export restrictions that have an disproportionate impact on our military readiness and national defense,” Smith said. “They keep almost all the cards.”

Since 2023, China has been implemented export controls in at least 16 critical minerals, as part of what DC insider and other experts deducted as a highly targeted campaign aimed at disrupting American defense and technology supply chains.

In the case of seven rare rare late land metals recently intended with new licensing rules, China controls up to 99% of global processing capacity. On the other hand, the Trump administration has irritated China by imposing an ever -increasing export controls on computer chips made by the necessary SH.BA in artificial intelligence.

Trump’s proposed receipt of Groenland rich in resources is widely seen as part of his strategy to reduce the country’s religion in China. Elsewhere, Sh.BA

However, mineral sites in Greenland and Ukraine are many years away from the tooth to the US question. Experts said they are best seen as part of a broader strategy that includes raised family mines, as well as close cooperation with allies rich in resources to reduce confidence in China.

China has a prevailing maintenance in the ability to supply and process the world for rare soil metals. Getty Images

“It is a reliability of the entry problem,” said a home helper for the situation told the post. “As we stay now, I think we’re very prepared and you can’t buy the processing capacity from the shelf.”

The risk of a total embargo in response to increased geopolitical tensions may seem very removed, but it has a precedent. In 2010, China briefly promoted chaos when banning shipments of rare land elements in Japan while both countries were locked in a territorial dispute.

Some interiors believe that China will inevitably use similar tactics in the event of a more serious diplomatic dispute with the US – such as a possible occupation of Taiwan.

Congress must “foresee the worst”, according to Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb), a retired Air Force officer and a member of the Armed Services Committee of the Home.

Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb) arrives for a meeting of the Republican House Conference in the US Capitol on May 6, 2025 in Washington, DC. Getty Images

“After 30 years in the army, I discovered that we tend to exaggerate the enemy’s abilities, but we tend to underestimate their goals,” Bacon said in an interview. “And I think if this is an opportunity for China and we’re playing hardball, oh, yes, they can close these things if they wanted. That’s why it’s very important to find alternative areas.”

A White House official said Trump is taking corrective action after former President Joe Biden “privatized internal mines and delayed permission for years in favor of” green “energy projects.

“In the first 100 days of President Trump, he has taken bold, crucial steps to turn the course,” the official said. “He signed Executive Order 14241 to increase the production of American minerals, launched a national strategy of critical minerals, followed rapidly for key projects, and initiated a 232 investigation into Chinese mineral imports.”

“The administration is also pursuing new market mechanisms, export controls on mineral recycling and a fund to accelerate US overlying in this life sector,” the White House official added.

President Trump has accused China of violating a preliminary trade agreement. AFP your getty images

The Center for Strategic and International Studies warned in a recent report that the US military was “particularly tangible” for any cessation of heavy heavy land deliveries.

First announced in April, China’s licensing requirements for rare Earth magnets left western firms, clashing to be reset before their reserves were over. The widespread change to the “timely time” supply chains over the past decades means that many companies hold critical minerals worth only three to six months.

Neither Elon Musk, who is cultivated near him for both Beijing and Trump while leading Tesla, is immune from the negative effects. When calling Tesla’s profits on April 22, Musk admitted that China’s export controls on rare earth magnets could delay the production of the company’s humanoid robot.

The Director General of Niocorp and the Executive Chairman Mark A. Smith has called on the US to strengthen the household mines of rare land. Niocorp / YouTube developments

Metal traders and other leaders in various industries are already “very, very worried” and have begun to sound the alarm in Capitol Hill how problematic it would be a long -term closure for the economy, the home assistant said.

“In the email we get for the possible impact of a sustainable and significant rare land control on the US market, the answer is quite frantic,” the home aide said.

Experts warn that a sustainable embargo of rare land deliveries can cause the chain chain of supply. AFP your getty images

Some legislative efforts are underway at Congress to address the flowering crisis. Rep. Rob Wittman (r-v.), Which runs the home election committee for China’s mineral policy working group, has supported a trip of bills that aim to regulate the American supply chain and regulate again against China’s points to promote its monopoly.

While the posting has been reported, industry officials have also called on the US government to facilitate heavy regulations and environmental permit processes that have cooled investment in rare land mines and caused great delays for existing projects.

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Image Source : nypost.com

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