With 90 days to go into effect, the United States has come to its senses and found that China has a firm grasp of strategic resources.
China implements the protection of rare earths
Recently, China promulgated the Regulations on the Administration of Rare Earths, which clearly stipulates that the state is fully regulated. To put it simply, rare earth resources belong to the state, and no organization or individual may encroach or destroy them. The decree will come into force on October 1 this year, with three months to go.
It is worth mentioning that the Chinese side pointed out in the decree that enterprises in rare earth mining, smelting and separation, metal smelting, comprehensive utilization and export of rare earth products should "truthfully" record the flow information of rare earth products and enter it into the rare earth product traceability information system. The significance behind this point lies in the fact that China's rare earths will not be sold cheaply to the United States and other Western countries, and China will firmly control its strategic security in its own hands.
【Rare Earth Materials】
Rare earths include 17 metallic chemistries that are important to global industries, and the refined rare earth metals are used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, and consumer electronics. In recent years, China has become a major producer of rare earths in the world, accounting for nearly 90% of global refining output.
In addition, rare earths have an irreplaceable role in the military field. The addition of rare earth elements to special steels, such as armor steel, can significantly improve its hardness, toughness, heat resistance and corrosion resistance, so that the protection performance of tanks, armored vehicles and other equipment is better. Rare earth ductile iron is used to produce complex, high-performance mechanical parts, such as engine blocks, to enhance the durability and reliability of military equipment.
Because of this, rare earths are regarded as a strategic resource in the 21st century, and countries attach great importance to the research and development of their supply and application technologies, while the United States is heavily dependent on Chinese rare earths.
The American "artery" was cut
Every advanced weapon in the U.S. arsenal, from Tomahawk cruise missiles to F-35 fighter jets, relies on components made with rare earth elements, almost all of which are made in China.
[The United States began to build a rare earth industry chain]
Over the years, in order to reverse the disadvantage, the United States seems to have initially established a prototype of the rare earth industry chain that "does not rely on China". A number of companies, including MP Materials, have established industrial chains from mining to smelting and separation, metals and alloys, downstream NdFeB and other rare earth functional materials in the United States, Australia, Canada, Malaysia and other countries. Although the scale and profitability remain to be seen, the work of replenishing and extending the chain has been basically completed.
Still, the U.S. side said it could take years to build a sustainable rare earths industry chain that is not dependent on China, but it is a key step to ensure supply chain security.
But do these initiatives really work? Data shows that the United States has invested at least nearly $200 million in various rare metal projects since 2020, however, US media reports that the actual results of US efforts are limited, and Beijing's dominance has not wavered.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the proportion of rare earths imported by the United States from China has remained roughly unchanged for the past decade, about 70 percent.
The Pentagon also admits that it is obviously impossible to bypass Chinese rare earths to obtain F-35 parts.
[U.S. F35 malfunction]
Today, the United States no longer has to "try" to cut rare earths with China, China has turned passive into active, and firmly holds the strategic lifeline in its own hands.
The United States wants to fight against China, and China will accompany it to the end
Of course, this is not the first time that China has played the "rare earth" card. Last summer, China restricted exports of germanium and gallium. Germanium and gallium are widely used in the chip manufacturing industry in response to export controls on advanced semiconductor technology, equipment and chips imposed by the United States and its allies on China.
Nearly a year has passed, in addition to the most direct impact, the rise in the price of germanium and gallium, and secondly, the American company Lockheed Martin has tasted the bitter fruit.
Satellite images show that after hundreds of US F-35 fighters came off the production line, they did not even go out of the factory gate, but were placed directly on the open tarmac. The frequent failures of this fifth-generation fighter of the United States in the past two years are also related to China's export controls on metal elements.
[China imposes export controls on gallium and germanium]
In addition, the report also said that the F35 fighter was originally planned to carry out a radar upgrade, after which the F35 can increase the detection range to 3 times, and China's gallium and germanium are necessary for the production of this radar, after the Chinese side implemented control, the United States F35 fighter upgrade failed, and finally only 4 samples were made.
Now that China has once again tightened the export of rare earths, the US F35 fighter jets have been upgraded, and even maintaining current production may be a problem.
Since August last year, the United States has begun to set its sights on Mongolia, Vietnam and other countries rich in rare earth resources, hoping that they can help the United States bypass China's sanctions, but the United States forgot that China's rare earths are not only rich in resources, but also because of China's unique rare earth processing technology, even the United States does not have.
In short, there is not much time left for the United States, in 90 days, to find alternative technologies and materials, but also to consider the economy, technological feasibility, this is a very complex task, of course, the United States still has one last way to go, that is, to talk to China, but this road may not work, China to take back the strategic lifeline naturally has its own considerations, is it the United States can change a few words?