I have been warning about this for years. It’s now happening. 
China Halts Critical Exports
The New York Times reports China Halts Critical Exports as Trade War Intensifies. That is a free link for those who wish to read the full article.
China has suspended exports of a wide range of critical minerals and magnets, threatening to choke off supplies of components central to automakers, aerospace manufacturers, semiconductor companies and military contractors around the world.
Shipments of the magnets, essential for assembling everything from cars and drones to robots and missiles, have been halted at many Chinese ports while the Chinese government drafts a new regulatory system. Once in place, the new system could permanently prevent supplies from reaching certain companies, including American military contractors.
The official crackdown is part of China’s retaliation for President Trump’s sharp increase in tariffs that started on April 2.
On April 4, the Chinese government ordered restrictions on the export of six heavy rare earth metals, which are refined entirely in China, as well as rare earth magnets, 90 percent of which are produced in China. The metals, and special magnets made with them, can now be shipped out of China only with special export licenses.
But China has barely started setting up a system for issuing the licenses. That has caused consternation among industry executives that the process could drag on and that current supplies of minerals and products outside of China could run low.
If factories in Detroit and elsewhere run out of powerful rare earth magnets, that could prevent them from assembling cars and other products with electric motors that require these magnets. Companies vary widely in the size of their emergency stockpiles for such contingencies, so the timing of production disruptions is hard to predict.
The so-called heavy rare earth metals covered by the export suspension are used in magnets essential for many kinds of electric motors. These motors are crucial components of electric cars, drones, robots, missiles and spacecraft. Gasoline-powered cars also use electric motors with rare earth magnets for critical tasks like steering.
The metals also go into the chemicals for manufacturing jet engines, lasers, car headlights and certain spark plugs. And these rare metals are vital ingredients in capacitors, which are electrical components of the computer chips that power artificial intelligence servers and smartphones.
Michael Silver, the chairman and chief executive of American Elements, a chemicals supplier based in Los Angeles, said his company had been told it would take 45 days before export licenses could be issued and exports of rare earth metals and magnets would resume. Mr. Silver said that his company had increased its inventory last winter in anticipation of a trade war between the United States and China, and could meet its existing contracts while waiting for the licenses.
In a potential complication, China’s Ministry of Commerce, which issued the new export restrictions jointly with the General Administration of Customs, has barred Chinese companies from having any dealings with an ever-lengthening list of American companies, particularly military contractors.
One American mining leader, James Litinsky, the executive chairman and chief executive of MP Materials, said that rare earth supplies for military contractors were of particular concern.
“Drones and robotics are widely considered the future of warfare, and based on everything we are seeing, the critical inputs for our future supply chain are shut down,” he said. MP Materials owns the sole rare earths mine in the United States, the Mountain Pass mine in the California desert near the Nevada border, and hopes to start commercial production of magnets in Texas at the end of the year for General Motors and other manufacturers.
Many American companies keep little or no inventory because they do not want to tie up cash in stockpiles of costly materials. One of the metals subject to the new controls, dysprosium oxide, trades for $204 per kilogram in Shanghai, and much more outside China.
Rare earth magnets make up a tiny share of China’s overall exports to the United States and elsewhere. So halting shipments causes minimal economic pain in China while holding the potential for big effects in the United States and elsewhere.
Chinese customs officials are blocking exports of heavy rare earth metals and magnets not just to the United States but to any country, including Japan and Germany. Enforcement of the new export license requirement, though, has been uneven so far among different Chinese ports, rare earth industry executives said.
Until 2023, China produced 99 percent of the world’s supply of heavy rare earth metals, with a trickle of production coming out of a refinery in Vietnam. But that refinery has been closed for the past year because of a tax dispute, leaving China with a monopoly.
China also produces 90 percent of the world’s nearly 200,000 tons a year of rare earth magnets, which are far more powerful than conventional iron magnets. Japan produces most of the rest and Germany produces a tiny quantity as well, but they depend on China for the raw materials.
What to Expect
Trump will back down. Expect Trump to ask Xi for a meeting.
All the clowns who thought Trump holds all the cards were wrong.
OK, the US imports more from China than vice versa. However, the US desperately needs some things China exports while China does not desperately need anything the US produces.
Related Posts
On April 4, 2025, I commented China Strikes Back With 34 Percent Tariffs, Stocks Plunge Second Day
China restricts 7 more rare earths, something I have warned about many times.
China Panics
Trump says China Panicked
CHINA PLAYED IT WRONG, THEY PANICKED – THE ONE THING THEY CANNOT AFFORD TO DO!
Actually, Trump will be the one to panic if China halts all rare earth exports, not just to the US.
The market is excited by the prospects “MY POLICIES WILL NEVER CHANGE.”
The greatest tariff experiment since the Great Depression is underway.
“My Policies Will Never Change“
The laughable absurdity of that comment is on full display today.
For discussion, please see Tariff Clown Show Continues, Tech Tariffs Back On, Separately
That April 4 restriction was for the US only, leaving open the possibility of getting rare earths from another country.
China just put export restrictions on the whole world.
Understanding Rare Earths
At present China produces 60 percent of the world’s rare earths but processes nearly 90 percent, which means that it is importing rare earths from other countries and processing them. This has given China a near monopoly.
According to the United States Geological Survey, China has been supplying 54 percent of the germanium used by the United States, a material used in infrared technology and fiber optics.
The United States has not mined its own gallium, used in semiconductors, since 1987. Japan supplies 26 percent of American imports of gallium, China 21 percent and Germany 19 percent, along with several smaller suppliers.
Antimony (Sb), a critical metalloid, is a key element of the American war machine, essential for communication equipment, night vision goggles, explosives, ammunition, nuclear weapons, submarines, warships, optics, laser sighting and more, according to U.S. Army Major General (retired) James Marks.
China controls nearly 50% of the global antimony supply.
Related Posts
November 21, 2024: China’s Puts Export Curbs on Minerals US Needs for Weapons and Technology
In a warning shot to the Trump administration, China tightens export controls on some dual-use minerals.
December 3, 2024: China Halts Rare Exports Used by US Technology Companies and the Military
This is China’s advance salvo at Trump tariffs. It comes one day after the Biden administration expanded curbs on the sale of advanced American technology to China.
My Ending Comments on April 4
Today China retaliated by Immediately restricting exports of seven types of rare earths.
China can easily block rare earth exports to the world. If that happens, Trump will panic.
We should not be in this position, but we are.
I believe it’s safe to say that I called this.
How fast will Trump be on the phone asking China for talks?
Q: would someone please elaborate on the product impact of “rare earth exports desperately needed by the US.” i looked this over in the web this am and couldn’t get too excited… electric vehicles, wind, solar, etc.
A: I provided links. Try reading them!
Next – Try thinking.
What is it you fail to understand about critical materials needed but shut off?
I have been harping about this for years. But because it has been ignored for years does not mean it didn’t matter.
Finally, the one and only instance I support subsidies is on truly critical materials. Biden flunked and Trump flunked before that.
So don’t pin this on Biden. They all flunked.
=======
Anyone calling for the assassination of foreign leaders gets banned without warning
========================
Anyone putting words in my mouth that I did not say or accusing me of positions I don’t have is also subject to immediate banning
Rare earths can be obtained from coal ash. This is not a dire emergency. Don’t believe me? Then look it up. Google is your friend.
This does not make me a friend of a trade war with China, at least not in the herky-jerky way Trump is pursuing it. But rather it makes me “not an alarmist.”
Coal has also has uranium. But do we mine (process) it for uranium? No, b/e it’s not economic to do so.
To my knowledge, no one has suggested obtaining uranium from coal ash. But people who will forget more than I will ever know are suggesting that coal ash can be a source of rare earths. We shall see.
yes there is a potential https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40789-024-00710-z
Potential and realization are 2 very different things.
And gold can be obtained from the world’s oceans as well. Ever wonder why that hasn’t been done?!
Spinning it from straw is a possibility
There was a long ago story about doing that!
also on other planets, too. we’ll be panning for gold on uranus soon.
Supposedly a lot of diamond in dwarf stars also.
Extracting rare earth elements (REEs) from coal ash is both technologically challenging and potentially expensive. While coal ash contains REEs, the concentrations are relatively low compared to conventional REE deposits, and the elements are tightly bound within a glassy matrix. The extraction process requires both physical and chemical separation methods, including washing and using strong acids and bases, which can be costly.
Thanks for the info, very interesting article. But did you actually read it? None of it is available until processing can be worked out. So, maybe years, decades, if ever. Another ree source is Wyoming. But the mine has to come on line (years away) and there is still the problem of processing the ore. I also read (thanks google), that the Wy deposit is not nearly as extensive as first reported. So, basically we are dependent on stockpile. Cannot find any info on what our current stockpile is. Best analogy I can think of is someone holding your head under water. Yes, you can breathe all the Oxygen in the water, but not for long – and you will become very alarmed.
Yes, I did read the article. I freely acknowledge that my knowledge is limited, but it’s absurd to suggest that it was somehow limited to coal ash from Wyoming.
Dennijer has stated several times. Likewise with Thorium.
More generally, I find your doctrinaire approach to tariffs lacking in realism. No question, in an ideal world there would be no tariffs at all. But that’s not the world we live in. Of the major industrial countries, the U.S. has had the lowest tariffs by far, and the result has been cheaper goods and the hollowing out of our industrial capacity.
I think Trump’s “reciprocal” formula to be laughable, as you do, but I regard that as more of a shot across the bow of Europe, China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Canada more than something that will last. Bottom line: Your one-sided, purist take would be popular in a college economics class, but that’s about all.
“ Of the major industrial countries, the U.S. has had the lowest tariffs by far, ”
Nope. Not true. It’s just wishful thinking on your part. You are falling for a false narrative like so many others here. How about you prove it? You won’t. Because you can’t.
I will repeat this example again.
The US has had 25% tariffs on pickup truck imports since the mid 1960s and 2.5% tariffs on cars. The tariff on cars has just increased to 25% as well.
Japan has zero tariffs on imported cars and trucks.
So shouldn’t we reduce our tariffs to zero to match Japan?
Go ahead and look up the facts. I bet you won’t. Because you don’t want to know the truth. You want to believe the lies.
To be fair, they have restrictions other than tariffs and a population which is unlikely to purchase a foreign made vehicle, making it not worthwhile for manufactures outside of a few luxury and niche vehicles.
Don’t care. I’m just trying to correct all the dumb f*cks here who want to believe and spread the tariff lies.
Here’s another example. The US has had 14.5% tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber for decades in spite of losing case after case at the WTO. This tariff was recently raised to 34.5%. Canada has no reciprocal tariff on US lumber. Shouldn’t we lower our rate to 0% to match theirs?
If you had the slightest idea of how the softwood lumber market operates in Canada you would realize that simply looking at the tariff structure to assess the fairness of the arrangements is ridiculous. Ditto for eggs and dairy.
No they have competition. Which Americans don’t like. Why would you buy a Chevy in Japan when there are so many wonderful Japanese cars?
Why would you buy a Chevy, Ford or Chrysler in America when you have so many Japanese vehicles that are much better. Pound for pound, dollar for dollar the Japanese make the best cars in the world.
I spent 40 years in the auto repair business at various levels I do have some experience.
JakeJ suffers of TDS…
Not in the least. I am critical of Trump’s execution, and especially of that brain-dead formula of his. But I am not critical of his underlying belief that the U.S. industrial base is in danger.
Japanese and Italians cannot drive F-150 or Silverado in their narrow streets.
That’s kind of the point though. Why doesn’t Ford produce great cars for narrow streets? Why does Toyota make great trucks for the American market that aren’t useful in Japan?
Because obese, fat-assed Americans would not fit in a car or truck that small.
thats why most of the population doesn’t own cars. Japan is a series of islands, small islands by comparison to China, Russia or USA.
JR is one of the largest railways in Japan. Most japanese travel by rail far more than they travel by car. JR Japanese Railway is subzidized like most Railways world-wide. This makes train travel cheap relative to car ownership in Japan.
There is a larger market for K-cars and trucks (very small, relatively cheap, and good for truck farms etc), and a very tiny market for luxury cars and little room to park and maintain large American or European vehicles.
Believe what you want. Perhaps my post tomorrow morning will put some sense in your head.
Read It.
I will read it. Unlike some people (cough, cough) I do not labor under the illusion that I am always right.
We still have plenty of industrial capacity, we just don’t have huge numbers of industrial employment. They’re not the same thing. And if you want to increase industrial capacity and output in the U.S. tariffs are terribly unproductive way to do when there are plenty of tax and regulatory reforms that would spur more sustained long-run growth than tariffs.
– China has suspended exports of magnets, threatening to choke off supplies of components. central to contractors around the world.
> I thought Fort Worth was taking care of that need by using Oxides?
– The official crackdown is part of China’s retaliation for President Trump’s sharp increase in tariffs.
> Hmm… “Officially” from China, for “The Crackdown”, or “Officially” Told by “Officials here” at home, so therefore “Official” but Not So Much? Perhaps simply “Tit for Tat”
– Chinese government ordered restrictions on the export of six heavy rare earth metals.
> I did see that as well, and that this could drag on for awhile, but that seems fine. Companies vary widely in the size of their emergency stockpiles for such contingencies, so the timing of production disruptions is hard to predict. Certainly not even close to an emergency yet. I suspect our Government would as well.
– “Drones and robotics are widely considered the future of warfare, and based on everything we are seeing, the critical inputs for our future supply chain are shut down,”
> Fine, but while waiting, we should be prepared to use ALL the Weapons at Our Disposal. Perhaps we won’t need anything else and neither will they…
We can do without a lot of what we use much of it for…
Who the f are you to determine what I can do without? Goddamn socialists!
I am by no means telling You anything. I am simply pointing out that we can make the use go a lot further if we cease using it where it isn’t as necessary.
This is a situation that calls for limited use, and only where necessary such as “Defense” of our Country for example.
Thankfully You don’t get to decide that, as You seem to think of only yourself.
I think, first and foremost, that everyone gets to decide what’s important to them. I want that for everyone, including you. I would never consider reducing someone else’s standard of living because something isn’t important to me.
someones premenstrual today…
One question I have, that I think is pertinent to the conversation. What is our stockpile? How many months before this goes critical?
No one is giving out that information. I tried to find out but came up with nothing reliable.
Even if they did, it would be what they want people to hear, and not necessarily factual. We would never tell our enemy, what we have for stock piles, unless of course it our SPR and Biden doing the talking.
Car Junk yards will make more money selling magnets than on catalytics converters. Recycling computers and cell phone co will sell rare earth minerals.
Rare earth mineral mining is dirty, often extracted by the dreaded open pit mining techniques. All products containing rare earth elements should be banned from the United States. Existing bans on mining such elements in this country should be strictly enforced.
We are holding a busted flush here.
Trump lovers are too busy flexing over their gigantic imaginary wins to bother being concerned by not having enough REEs to service our critical high-end tech and military needs. The don’t care 1% as much about those issues as they do about “owning the libs” so let their victory march toward the seaside cliff continue uninterrupted and let’s see how this ends.
looks as if china holds the ace .
Futures up again this Mon AM 4/14.
So virtually the whole PANICAN market collapse has been reversed.
So much for “Muh Trump tariffs” destroying the world.
Well trump delayed his tariffs for 90 days right, or is it 1 day or maybe 7 days?
Who knows but you go right ahead and go all in on this market.
it’s a retarded and messed up administration. trump and his team are criminally and mentally ill. musk is white trash as is trump and vance……..
Even Trump was barely smart enough to see that “Muh Trump tariffs” were going to destroy the world so he backed down bigly.
The simpleton Joe has spoken and owned allz yallz.
I still remember when english was easily understood means of communication.
The Department of Defense consumes less that 0.1% of rare earth global demand. It consumes not even a large part of US demand as the private sector consumes several times more so the military is not at risk of running out soon. With stockpiles there is enough till local processing can come online. Recycling is highly possible also.
https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-24-107176.pdf
<<<<<China just put export restrictions on the whole world.>>>>
If true as presented, now the whole world understands what Trump is driving at. Except Mike.
Yet you voluntarily read the words of someone who you think is the only one who doesn’t get it. Respect yourself for once, m’kay?
delete
The hate of Trump in China and the US is growing. The PRC creed: rule with an iron fist and restore our national pride after foreign entities humiliated the Qing dynasty until 1949. Volatility might cont until the supreme court reverse Trump’s tariffs. China and the US will be officially separated after being in bed together since the Deng dynasty. The US and China do not get along. Trump might “please” his voters in order to survive. He will sign a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, Bibi and Hamas and a nuke deal with Iran, bc Ukraine, Israel, the Palestinians and Iran are more exhausted than Trump.
China became too arrogant and inelastic, playing the victim. She is turning her back on us, but for rare earth minerals she is losing her biggest customer.
China is doing what is best for China, unlike crazy America which is apparently committing slow suicide. It’s not Trump it’s the 70M that voted for him and worse the 90M that didn’t vote at all.
Xi is playing poker with his rare earth mineral Ace cards dbl his bets in a Martingale system, bc he is angry. Trump is using an Anti Martingale while playing against opponents. Trump was an owner of several casinos. He knows how to bet against the globalists in the world casino. He is a poker tiger.
Michael, can you score Trump’s management of the many casinos he owned? You give it an A+? Pray tell how they ALL were bankrupted. Was Trump somehow abused by the powers that be, as is the case with every single imperfection in his life?
a poker tiger who bankrupted his own casinos. pass the opium pipe please. you have had enough.
Trump would be/is a poker guppy. I play at least 4 days every week I’d love him in my game.
Those casinos, how many went bankrupt? The Plaza in Atlantic City was “owned” by Trump it was built for $240M sold years later when building costs were much higher for $20M, that’s the Art of the Deal….lol
Ah yes, so what you are saying, Michael, is that we should allow China to ban our rare earths, and in so doing, commit economic suicide? Is that a fair summary of your opinion?
The best part is MEE ban will delay the military industrial complex and WW3.
A side issue: it was always a goal of the US to keep Russia and China separated.
How does someone disengage China from Russia’s latest alliance with them?
Could tariffs be one of the methods?
Not going to happen. Too many decades of American perfidy.
Probably drive them closer together. Did I miss the satire in your comment?
Looks like the US will have to capitulate. Rome did not last forever either.
Not all Trump’s fault, this has been building for the past 40 years.
Where is that 4D chess mentality?
Isn’t it more likely time to invade Greenland…
Or call another televised “thank you for your great leadership” cabinet meeting?
Right, who could possibly blame “tariff is a beautiful word” Trump?
Other than “there is no winner in a trade war” Xi, I mean.
Xi should be thrilled, these tariffs and other trade policy by the USA plays right into China’s hand as leader of the BRICS. I thought Trump was pro Russia but now I think he’s just anti America.
How was Trump ever pro-Russia? In his first term he threatened sanctions on German companies that brought in Russian energy, urged Europe to get off Russian energy, tried to block Putin’s pipeline (Putin owns billions of dollars worth of shares of Gazprom), gave Ukraine more offensive weapons than Obama after Crimea was invaded, pushed NATO eastward, demanded NATO countries fulfill their military funding pledge whereas Obama didn’t, ordered the US to strike and kill Russian Wagner forces in Syria, etc
In most people’s estimations, the benefits that Trump’s actions have brought to Russia, along with his passively encouraging Russia to take Ukraine, are enough to make him pro-Russia, more than he is pro-USA. His big accomplishment in first term was bungling the Covid response and posting the worst GDP in a half century if not EVER
Trump is anti-smart
Makes the point that the U.S. must re-industrialize. Was listening to the end of Tucker Carlson’s interview of Dr. Patrick Soon Shiong, who owns the L.A. Times and is a brilliant scientist who developed his own killer T cell based Covid vaccine, which clears the virus. He said that China is now moving ahead of the U.S., not just in manufacturing, but in research as well. Shiong mentioned an Astra Zenica investment in Chinese research, as an example. China is also building up it’s military, allegedly to be ready to reclaim Taiwan in 2027.
ready to reclaim Taiwan in 2027
Why 2027 specifically? Why not 2026 or 2030?
There were narratives every now and then for many decades.
After 2027 they will change the year again to keep the propaganda alive.
How could Trump be so stupid as to even try this knowing China has this card? Did he think China wouldn’t be so bold? Or did he even think? Some of my favorite places, such as Harborfreight, are going to get decimated.
Now im thinking about all the theories from such people as Mannarino and hoping Trump caves and reverses.
I really have no idea it’s all a guessing game. I know I didn’t care for our billionaire leader saying he didn’t mind some pain if we go into recession. Right. Like he’s going to suffer.
Setup my woodworking shop two years ago mostly Rikon and tools from Harbor Freight total of several thousand dollars. No matter almost all tools are made in China. Delta, Rikon, Wen, Ryobi, Stanley, Milwaukee almost all made in the same China factory.
go long amish builders.
My son collects and restores antique wood hand planes. Guess he’s getting there.
This is how Rome must have felt during emperor Caligula’s time. Nobody has a clue what the emperor really thinks or wants, but everybody assumes the worst given his previous behavior.
Bob Guccione made a movie to that effect.
went to an opening party guccione threw for slate magazine. penthouse honeys and sex drugs and rock. early 80s nyc. yikes.
not slate. i think it was jfk jr. mag. can’t think of name.
The CIA bought titanium through a storefront company in Africa during the Cold War, since Russia had the largest reserves, in order to build submarines and things like the SR-71 Blackbird. The default settings to oh, the CCP is going to whip us! seem a bit puerile.
But at what cost? You think they didn’t know who they were selling too and charged a premium?
Where is Nixon when you need him?
Yeah, price control dick….
dick cheney and rummy ran nixons price control scheme. bwaaahhhhhh
“I know who killed Jack.” Next thing you know, the CIA sets him up.
I’m thinking Russia is now China’s most favored nation for rare earth element exports.
Looks like we’re finally getting to it one way or another. Resolution is required to settle imbalances and accounts. I’d argue this answer needed answering or countering a long long time ago. Who runs deficits and supports its enemies via surpluses for years while allowing them to hold the keys to your weaponry, steal your IP, threaten your largest microchip producer constantly….answer, we do. The question was whether now was the time and in this manner. Buckle up.
I think you are Mishtaking again! China needs to export to keep its citizens from revolting, as their economy is no less dependent.
You misspelled “much less dependent on the USA for its exports.” In the last eight years, a fact you can confirm easily with basic internet search, China’s share of exports bound for the USA has fallen from over 19% to under 13%. How IRONIC and COINCIDENTAL that they started right when Trump was first elected. I guess they guessed and got super duper lucky? Or maybe they knew they couldn’t depend on exporting to the USA for much longer? Think about that one.
Goodbye Jay
In March Tesla announced that their new motor does not use rare earth’s any longer. BMW and Nissan have eliminated them in certain EV models Toyota and VW are not far behind. That goes for many others in several industries. The rare earth risk has been known for a long time and companies, the smart ones, have been adapting for a while now. China’s embargo is not a surprise to anybody.
The defense industry is the scary one…
We’re in danger of peace breaking out.
Should do wonders for stock market futures. When will someone in this administration or the Republican Party finally have the cojones to say that the emperor has no clothes? This is unforgivable economic vandalism.
The market doesn’t measure goodness of policy, wish folks would stop implying that what’s good for the stock market must be good for America, Americans, Main Street. If that were the case, everything in the last 17 years bar the plandemic post the GFC has been nothing but rock solid. Or maybe it’s due to fiscal deficits and monetary easing adding up to 37Trillion in debt and more a comin!
Side note–futures tonight + nearly 1%. So does that mean that you, because the market is up, thinks this policy is good?
Two months ago, Mish & others didn’t expect Trump to do anything. Now he has and way more than most of us expected. Yet, somehow Mish & others keep telling us what Trump is going to do, but he’s not listening. Maybe that’s good thing or a bad thing. I don’t know.
But I know this much. It’s a clown show here on Mishtalk with all of these tariff experts telling us what Trump is going to do and yet he’s doing the exact opposite.
The clown show goes both ways, Mish / et al. Keep rooting for China to win. I guess that’s the new American way.
Bye
Are you kidding? Your memory is failing you Jay.
Remember Jay, you and I have been cheering for Trump tariffs for longer than 2 months now. Although we are expecting different outcomes.
It seems you are just upset because tariffs are not working out quite the way you expected. Don’t be a poor sport Jay.
And I love this clown show!
Just look at all the comments it is generating for Mish. People are watching this all play out and it is fascinating!
That’s what we agreed on. We will watch how it all plays out. Let’s give it another month or two. There is a lot more fun yet to come.
I want America to win. But with an economically illiterate White House, we are going to lose big time.
Right. They are all billionaires looking out for their own interests but at the same time they are economically illiterate.
Quit sniveling, I bet a majority of people sht posting here has more rare earths cluttering up space in their home, from old PC’s, laptops, cell phone, PC memory Chips old electronics.
During WW2 shortages of metals and other vital resources caused hardships but we overcame. Same would be with rare earth.
If anything it would be Good for Americans to do without the next Iphone model.
People need purpose otherwise we just argue and fight (politically) with eachother.
Are you really that stupid?
I see we’ve gone from WINNING and we’re going to be rich to
Well ya know depressions build character.
Plant your victory garden and bring in your leftover rubber tires. And for God’s sake, pull your blackout shades.
Mish, You might want to be a little more open minded in this area, most major companies are involved with recycling. I am not saying it is a solution to the problem just it is something that is happening.
Apple has made substantial progress in recycling rare earth elements (REEs) from its products. Key initiatives include:
Apple’s focus on recycling REEs demonstrates its commitment to reducing reliance on mining and minimizing environmental impact.
In 1964 all of the “junk silver” was there for the taking.
mom and us kids got bags and bags and bags of silver for paper. i’d say it lasted for at least 10 years in the system. best trade i ever made. cost basis zero. free silver. no taxes.
Here’s how China could retaliate against US tariffs | Fox Business
“As trade tensions with China escalate, experts warn that Chinese President Xi Jinping could retaliate with moves like cutting rare earth exports or dumping U.S. treasuries — actions that could cripple U.S. defense systems, spike borrowing costs and trigger a global financial shock.
A total ban on rare earth mineral exports, for example, could render American missiles, fighter jets, and even consumer technology like smartphones inoperable. As tensions with Washington rise, Beijing could also retaliate by dumping U.S. treasuries — a threat that has already sent jitters through financial markets.
“There is not one of our jet airplanes in the United States Air Force that does not have rare earths in multiple forms, particularly in magnets,” said Mark Smith, CEO of NioCorp and a 40-year veteran of the mineral mining industry. “If China stops exporting rare earths, the effect on U.S. military readiness would be immediate.”
“Night vision goggles, hyper-sonic missiles, smart missiles that become dumb missiles — I mean you literally can shoot them, but they’re not going to go wherever they go with a smart missile,” he added.”
Correct
I have been discussing this since 2022 at the latest
you have.
Pharmaceuticals may be next. Looks like China has decided to expose our countries weaknesses, and work with different partners.
Sad our country can not be self sufficient for critical product manufacturing.
We have mastered the art of unpayable debt manufacturing however.
US Corporations place profit above everything, maybe as they should. The real elephant in the room is that unfettered capitalism isn’t good for the common folk and lots of restriction is required to make it a viable system. All or certainly most of the trade imbalance can be attributed to the chase for more and more profit. For years WalMart advised US producers of various products to move their operation to China so they could lower prices while increasing profits. It’s difficult to buy just about any product that isn’t manufactured in a low cost country. The US was going to let manufacturing go and replace it with services, so much for that idea as my contact with customer service is routed through India.
Do foreign vehicle manufactures locate new plants in the US because our workers are so good or because robots run most of the assembly process anyway and robots cost the same to run no matter where they are located?
Isn’t the Chinese currency tied to the US dollar? How would dumping US Treasuries help China? It wouldn’t. I’m not suggesting the rational path is well traveled but dumping Treasuries isn’t in China’s best interest. Plus, who is the market to buy these Treasuries? If the US can buy them at discount prices…another reason China won’t “dump”.
Basics rule. The US is 35% of China’s export market. The world’s reserve currency is the US dollar. Noise about rare earth minerals, if tariffs are reciprocal or not, or how our “allies and friends” perceive us is still noise.
wrong. at best it’s 15% and they have a trade balance with world. we don’t. we are dying and fat and slow and corrupt………..btw trading is not sports. we can have win/win and lose/lose. it’s not win/lose. that’s jock stuff for babies.
I genuinely expect Adam Smith’s invisible hand to provide essential minerals and rare earths after demand raises the incentive price. Greed is the good. Profit beckons and Greed provides.
Yes, eventually.
What about the next two years
We’ll do without or find a substitute. A few businesses may need bankruptcy court protection but the world won’t end.
Guess I won’t be replacing my iphone, laptop, or buy an e.v. for the next couple of years. Guess America will have to confine itself to using its military for defense only. No more going around the world looking for reasons to get involved in a local war and turn it into a regional one. At least for a couple of years.
in a year prices in WMT and HD and scarcity will make for fun times…..shopping. i eye witnessed in the late 80s some homeless fellas hack saw a working aluminum light pole in broad daylight for the scrap value. in brooklyn. in panic of 2008 blowoff the skells were going up on our roofs for AC copper in phoenix AZ……….one of my pals shot one of them. i think we live in interesting times. i also eyewitnessed the 90s in Russia after the collapse of USSR. that was a real eye opener. great business opportunities for the brave and stupid alike. many got shellacked.
“How fast will Trump be on the phone asking China for talks?”
Xi has Caller-ID and Trump’s number is blocked. Xi ain’t answering that call, which will never come anyway.
Xi has Trump right where he wants him. Trump’s actions are making China stronger around the world. Look for a Chinese naval base in the Caribbean in the next few years.
Ask why we haven’t seen a Chinese naval base in the Caribbean already. Taiwan is roughly 100 miles from China…yet, no invasion. The answer is informative.
There are alternatives for many applications. Many EV companies, for example, already use component designs with no REEs or permanent magnets.
For the applications that can’t be reengineered, alternative supplies can be used until the US re-establishes local production. The emergency permitting process for new plants will be announced soon if not already.
The US was the global leader for mining and refining REEs for decades. The only thing that has changed is environmental regulations.
Adapting won’t be free, but it is hardly the end of the world.
Not true. And hasn’t done REEs for like half a century. We did not loss it for environmental reasons. We sold the patents (to Hitachi), expertise, and mostly no quality resources left. Mountain Pass? It only has the cheap REEs thus the bankruptcies.
Not wasting my time on the rest.
BTW, the magnets and apps that can do w/o REEs, specifically ND, neodymium depend on if weight and performance are issues. (As ceramic magnets have <10X as much magnetism. (Know that that’s called? “Tesla”).
Trump can cut off oil exports to China from Saudi Arabia and Iran. China imports 68% of it’s oil use. China imports up to 34% of it’s food and the USA could cut that off too. Kyle Bass said they import 40%, but I used the lower percentage.The USA can also cut off access to U.S. dollars, which they need to pay for imports. I would say Trump still holds all of the cards.
And if it gets really nasty, Trump can start nationalizing all sorts of Chinese owned businesses like Smithfield foods & then go after Chinese owned land.
You really are stupid.
China will take over Tesla, Boeing, and Nike etc., operations in China.
Deal
Nike? Oh no. No more three hundred dollar running shoes that cost fifty dollars to make if done in America. Whatever will we do? What will the NBA players do for side money? Tesla and Boeing are finished in China anyway.
BYD will take over the Tesla plant and start making quality cars. China will profit and get stronger. The good news is America will not get weaker if Tesla is gone.
PLA has a Navy
Its called the PLN. Go figure.
No, it’s PLAN
The difference is oil and soybeans are fungible commodities. Any oil or soybeans from the US can be sourced elsewhere. We aren’t going to just switch to Australian REE’s because they don’t really exist.
China could announce that they are cutting their exports to US by 50 percent or more, indefinitely. And there will be big fights in Home Depots, Walmarts and Costcos all over the US!
Harbor Freight and it’s 1500 stores would go out of business.
So, you are saying “acts of war” are the only cards left? But we are talking Trump here, so who knows how far he will go to “win”.
A “win” to Trump is simply to have his name in the media, nothing else matters, he is mentally ill.
exactly correct. that’s it. 100%. the rest is eyewash.
$200 oil would be, um, interesting.
Have you ever heard of the BRICS, Trump is strengthening China around the world, they can replace us.
great. start ww3. china can get oil from russia and persia.
China should refuse to have talks unless the US representative wears nothing but a Burger King crown and that’s it’s televised globally. Whether it’s Trump or Lutnick or maybe we could let Ron Jeremy out on work release to go to bat for us, no pun intended.
Trump should have Xi wear a Winnie the Poo costume the next time they meet.
Xi wears the Winnie mask full-time.
Uh oh, the 10-year has gone from 4.48 to 4.6% now. Trumpybear lost another garment in the strip poker game.
Oh my God! The 10 year is back to what it was a year ago. This is a total disaster! I don’t know how we will recover.
I want the ten year at 9% the 90 days at 12% the two year at 8%, good numbers for me.
LOL – Winnie the Poo and Trump Baby – now there is a photo op…
China is an industrial exporter, a nation of engineers. The US are an agricultural exporter, a nation of peasants.
Actually a nation of factory farms.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYZqkVGOT4g#:~:text=so%20China%27s%20banking%20system%20is%20twice%20as%20large%20as%20ours%20in%20an%20economy.&text=we%20had%20never%20approached%20we%20had%20never,took%20the%20Fed%27s%20balance%20sheet%20from%20below.
Shouldn’t that worker be wearing some safety gear …….
It’s China. Workers are a dime a dozen.
I’m sure Trump team already accounted for this in their plans. /s
would someone please elaborate on the product impact of “rare earth exports desperately needed by the US.” i looked this over in the web this am and couldn’t get too excited… electric vehicles, wind, solar, etc.
And, the stock prices of major rare earth companies and funds are down by huge amounts whether China or no.
Of course, everyone has known for years China monopolizes rare earth supply (while our Hunter Biden’s work in china somehow left this out), but even much of that is sourced from Vietnam and others. Many other countries have proven reserves (like Thump was hoping for in Ukraine), but not yet exploited… like Greenland too.
Q: would someone please elaborate on the product impact of “rare earth exports desperately needed by the US.” i looked this over in the web this am and couldn’t get too excited… electric vehicles, wind, solar, etc.
A: I provided links. Try reading them!
Next – Try thinking.
What is it you fail to understand about critical materials needed but shut off?
I have been harping about this for years. But because it has been ignored for years does not mean it didn’t matter.
Finally, the one and only instance I support subsidies is on truly critical materials. Biden flunked and Trump flunked before that.
So don’t pin this on Biden. They all flunked.
Removing you from my bookmark. This site is becoming more of a joke each day. Just look at the kind of comments to see the kind of people who gravitate here. Pathetic.
bye bye!
Think just that’s enough? You will also have to plug both your ears and go on singing, “nananananananananananana….” LOL
This and Yves (naked capitalism -mc kinzie) were the two best promoters of Covid Theater 5 years ago.
Fuck off douchebag.
Sorry, no refunds SleemoG.
Would you like to speak to the manager?
Bye – If a gave a damn about how clowns thought, I would rah-rah Trump every day
You could be a member of his cabinet if you would only give up all your silly pride and heel to. You know, just get on your knees like the others.
The REAL TRAGEDY is after many years for trying to define resources, metallurgy and processing, then developed Bankable “Feasibility Studies” that were set up with viable loans (NOT grants – these were repayable loans) as part of Biden’s “Chips Act” Trump STUPIDLY CANCELLED ALL OF THESE FIRST DAY IN OFFICE.
UETTERLY, COMPLETELY STUPID. He killed off THE MOST viable lowest hanging fruit rare earth deposits for the US. He kicked all these people and projects in the teeth. Many of them, the Management’s and Consultants having carried these as ‘their babies’, all just became “F’ it!”. They’ll retire and walk away. As a Stock Analyst I covered some of these companies and projects in the late ’00s. W/ the CHIPS Act the final steps in these long journeys had begun falling in place. THEN TRUMP KILLED IT ALL. Any restarts if, and when Trump ever comes back to help these happen will have less experts and talent. HAVING BEEN NEEDLESLY BURNED some will never reboot – much less any time soon.
Trump is a Russian puppet. Everything makes sense with that premise.
I’m not sure Russian puppet or just anti America? Either way America will suffer until he is removed.
An example is Novonix. A very deep long term battery innovator. Deep enough their battery history even includes having been a leading battery testing equipment manufacturer. And a global co w/ ops in Assuie, Canada, and new plant work in south US. (Although that may be DOA w/ CHIPs Act killed.)
What else? How about signing a patented battery technology w/ a leading furnace co for the technology?
Pulled in US Co Phillips 66 as a multi-round JV partner. (Old school trying to stay new school?!)
Pulled away THE Founding Battery Techology guy from Tesla (and if I recall Dalhurst Univ – a top battery tech school he taught at as well).
So, it’s not like they haven’t been progressing. Shame if they don’t make it b/e of losing CHIPs LOAN funding.
Check ’em out https://www.novonixgroup.com/
(BTW, I know this is downstream and not upstream w/ a mine. But they’re handling the graphite demand which IS mined, future; AND creating some future for battery leadsership in the US).
So why are all these fantastic, successful companies doomed if they don’t get taxpayer provided financing.
So far, so good. When do the nukes fly?
The ass kissing predicted by King Trump may well turn out to be a role reversal with Trump puckering up. Bring it on, about time he was taken down a peg or two, his brand of arrogance and BS is not suited to the world beyond NYC.
And yes Mish did correctly call this.
He did a really pretty salute for that North Korean general. He can pucker.
I’m pretty sure his other end is getting quite puckered by now.
“And yes Mish did correctly call this.”
Links?
I’ve been betting on a credit sector collapse in part due to my trust in Trump’s uncanny ability to always do the wrong thing. He’s really been an asset in this regard.
Trump is facing a more than worthy adversary who is less likely to waffle and capitulate.
its the reverse Midas effect, everything he touches turns to shit
That was your guy Ringo Starr talking about your government. Pepperidge Farm remembers.