DEEP IMPACT
Ensuring access to the vital elements has become a top priority for US officials in talks with Chinese counterparts, with the two sides meeting this week in London.
“The rare earth issue has clearly … overpowered the other parts of the trade negotiations because of stoppages at plants in the US,” said Paul Triolo, a technology expert at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis, in an online seminar on Monday (Jun 9).
That disruption, which forced US car giant Ford to temporarily halt production of its Explorer SUV, “really got the attention of the White House”, said Triolo.
Officials from the two countries said on Tuesday that they had agreed on a “framework” for moving forward on trade, with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick expressing optimism that concerns over access to rare earths “will be resolved” eventually.
RARE EARTH ADVANTAGE
The slowing of licence issuance has raised fears that more automakers will be forced to halt production while they await shipments.
China’s commerce ministry said over the weekend that as a “responsible major country”, it had approved a certain number of export applications, adding that it was willing to strengthen related dialogue with “relevant countries”.
But that bottleneck has highlighted Washington’s reliance on Chinese rare earths for producing its defence equipment, even as trade and geopolitical tensions deepen.
An F-35 fighter jet contains more than 400kg of rare earth elements, noted a recent analysis by Gracelin Baskaran and Meredith Schwartz of the Critical Minerals Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“Developing mining and processing capabilities requires a long-term effort, meaning the US will be on the back foot for the foreseeable future,” they wrote.
