Workers who transport soil that contain rare earth elements for export in a port in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China, October 31, 2010.
Stringer | Reuters
As China imposes export controls on rare earth elements, the United States could not fill out a possible deficit, Chordination to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and this could threaten Washton’s military capabilities.
Amid the growing tariffs of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, about China, Beijing, earlier this month, import export restrictions on seven elements and magnets of rare earths used in defense, energy and automotive technologies.
The new restrictions, which cover the elements of medium and heavy rare earths, samarium, gadolinio, terbium, dichosium, lutetio, scandio and yttrium, will require that Chinese partners obtain special licenses to export resources.
He thought it remains to be seen exactly how China will implement this policy, the CSIS report, published on Monday, warns that exports will probably result since Beijing establishes the licensing system and will cause interruptions.
The New York Times reported earlier this week in the rare exports of Earth elements of China was already happening.
As Effective China has a monopoly on the supply of global processing of rare and heavy earths, such restrictions represent a serious threat to the United States, in part its defense technology sector.
“The United States is particularly vulnerable for these supply chains,” CSIS warned, emphasizing that rare earths are crucial for a variety of advanced defense technologies and are used in types of combat airplanes, missiles, radar systems.
Together with the export controls, Beijing has placed 16 American entities, all but one in the defense and aerospace industries, in its export control list. The placement in the list prevents companies from receiving “double use goods”, including the elements of rare land mentioned above.
Is not ready to fill the void
According to the CSIS report, if China’s commercial controls result in a complete closure of exports of medium and heavy rare elements, the United States will be unable to fill the void.
“There is no strong separation of rare earths in the United States today,” said CSIS, thought he noticed that the development of these capabilities is underway.
For example, the Defense Department established an objective to develop a complete supply chain of Earth elements that can meet all the defense needs of the United States by 2027 in its 2024 National Defense Industrial Strategy.
Since 2020, the Department of Defense has committed more than $ 439 million to build national supply chains and heavy rare land processing facilities, according to the data collected by the CSI.
However, CSIS said that when the thesis facilities are operational, their production will not reach that of China, and the United States is still far from fulfilling the objective of the Department of Defense of an independent supply of rare earth elements.
“The development of mining and processing capacities requires a long -term effort, which means that the United States will be on the rear foot for the planned future,” he added.
The president of the United States, Trump, has also been looking for an agreement with Ukraine, which would give access to his foreign land deposits or minerals. However, questions about the value and accessibility of such deposits remain.
Transcendence
The CSIS report warns that export controls represent direct threats to US military preparation, highlighting that the country is already lagging behind in its defense manufacture.
“Even before the last restrictions, the United States Industrial Base fought with a limited capacity and lacked the ability to expand production to meet defense technology demands,” said their authors.
They cite an estimate that China is acquiring advanced systems and equipment five to six times faster than the US, originated from an United States Air Force official in 2022.
“Other prohibitions on the contributions of critical minerals will only expand the gap, allowing China to strengthen their military capabilities faster than the United States,” concludes the report.
The United States is not alone in its groups about China’s monopoly on rare earths, with countries such as Australia and Brazil that also invest in the strengthening of the supply chains of national rare earth elements.
CSIS recommends that the United States provide financial and diplomatic support to guarantee the success of these initiatives.
However, China’s new export licenses system for rare earths could also encourage countries around the world to cooperate with China to avoid interruptions in their own supply of the elements, CSIS said.
A research report by Neil Shearing, chief economist of Economics Capital Groups, also pointed out how rare and mineral controls have become part of Beijing’s play book to delay against Washton.
The cut indicates that, in addition to the control of China, in some foreign lands, the supply of many other critical minerals, including cobalt and paladium, is concentrated in countries that are aligned with Beijing.
“The weapons of this control over critical minerals, and the careers of other alternative supplies in the country will be a central characteristic of a fractured global economy,” he said.