China Suspends Export of Critical Rare Earth Minerals

[Anonymous]

Unlike China, which has a state-coordinated mining strategy, U.S. miners must navigate decades-old policies that offer no streamlined pathway for rare earth projects. Moreover, permitting a new mine in the U.S. can take several years— compared to 2–3 years in China—due to excessive federal, state, and local regulatory hurdles.

While environmental protection is necessary, U.S. regulations on rare earth mining contradict themselves and discourage investment rather than ensure responsible development. A multiplicity of statues is involved. Take the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which requires years-long reviews that often result in lawsuits and delay projects indefinitely. Then there is the Clean Water Act & Endangered Species Act (opens in a new tab), with federal agencies often conflicting with each other over mining approvals, forcing companies to comply with overlapping or contradictory rules from EPA, Fish & Wildlife, and the Army Corps of Engineers.

Then, there are bureaucratic redundancies that slow actions down. Mining projects could require approvals from multiple agencies (BLM, USGS, DOE, DOI, DOD, EPA, and state governments)—each with different timelines and priorities.

[Anonymous]

As dumb as this trade war is maybe we could have won it if we had allies. We made enemies out of Canada, Mexico and Europe, regardless of one’s political affiliation how can we survive with this level of stupidity?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As dumb as this trade war is maybe we could have won it if we had allies. We made enemies out of Canada, Mexico and Europe, regardless of one’s political affiliation how can we survive with this level of stupidity?

I doubt we've made enemies out of them. They are, however, now well-aware that the U.S. isn't going to be a predictable market for their goods at low tariff rates unless they offer the same for American goods. Likewise, protectionist strategies for local industries will have to be reconsidered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think he went for nuclear option really fast.
I thought he was going to use rare earth minerals and antibiotics as last resort.

Antibiotics??

China controls 70% global rare earth minerals and 90% processing.
China produces 90% of US antibiotics ( eg, Penicillin) and 40-50% of generic drug ingredients (APIs)
Medical Devices ( gloves, syringes, MRI components)

And WHY is that? Is it wrong to try and on-shore those manufacturing activities?

Covid-19 taught us that we can't be dependent on China, and yet those who oppose tariffs seem to have forgotten this.

It’s like closing the barn door after the horse is gone.
It’s too little too late.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It looks like soon, Russia shall replace China for favored trading nation. A US-Russia alliance. We shall be unstoppable.

LOL. Leave it to Trump to partner with the loser dictator. Figures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think he went for nuclear option really fast.
I thought he was going to use rare earth minerals and antibiotics as last resort.

Antibiotics??

China controls 70% global rare earth minerals and 90% processing.
China produces 90% of US antibiotics ( eg, Penicillin) and 40-50% of generic drug ingredients (APIs)
Medical Devices ( gloves, syringes, MRI components)

And WHY is that? Is it wrong to try and on-shore those manufacturing activities?

Covid-19 taught us that we can't be dependent on China, and yet those who oppose tariffs seem to have forgotten this.

It’s like closing the barn door after the horse is gone.
It’s too little too late.

Not at all. Why not a bipartisan bill that waives all regulatory requirements to build rare earth mines? Would Democrats vote for it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think he went for nuclear option really fast.
I thought he was going to use rare earth minerals and antibiotics as last resort.

Antibiotics??

China controls 70% global rare earth minerals and 90% processing.
China produces 90% of US antibiotics ( eg, Penicillin) and 40-50% of generic drug ingredients (APIs)
Medical Devices ( gloves, syringes, MRI components)

And WHY is that? Is it wrong to try and on-shore those manufacturing activities?

Covid-19 taught us that we can't be dependent on China, and yet those who oppose tariffs seem to have forgotten this.

Both Biden and Trump have tried to advance the development of us rare earth mining and processing - Biden came from more of a green energy standpoint and Trump from more of a military might standpoint, but both acknowledged that China wielded too much power with their dominance.

https://www.everycrsreport.com/files/2020-11-24_R46618_6639173333b5877128b3af8449e1c1d88a16f327.pdf

Biden signed an EO to examine the industry in Jan 2020 and encouraged business to put in $120 billion in development.

https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/09/20/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-takes-further-action-to-strengthen-and-secure-critical-mineral-supply-chains/

And this is the way to do it -
Trump v1 and Biden encouraged investment in industry and we will see some results, but it takes many years. Punitive tariffs do not build processors and mines. Grants and subsidies do that. And that is the one of the biggest criticism of trump’s approach right now, on both sides of the aisle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As dumb as this trade war is maybe we could have won it if we had allies. We made enemies out of Canada, Mexico and Europe, regardless of one’s political affiliation how can we survive with this level of stupidity?

I doubt we've made enemies out of them. They are, however, now well-aware that the U.S. isn't going to be a predictable market for their goods at low tariff rates unless they offer the same for American goods. Likewise, protectionist strategies for local industries will have to be reconsidered.

The US has definitely burned a lot of goodwill and it’s only early days in the Trump administration. The US may not have made enemies but it’s definitely losing friends. This goes far beyond trade issues. It’ll be hard to anticipate some of the consequences and they won’t necessarily be reversible.

Take my home country, Australia. An anti-Trump backlash now means the incumbent labour government may be returned to power with an outright majority in our May election, negotiations for a free trade agreement with the EU are now suddenly being resumed after they failed two years ago, and there is a lot more talk about a pivot to Southeast Asia. This sort of thing is probably happening everywhere and it’s not the sort of stuff that will be unravelled if Trump isn’t around in four years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think he went for nuclear option really fast.
I thought he was going to use rare earth minerals and antibiotics as last resort.

Antibiotics??

China controls 70% global rare earth minerals and 90% processing.
China produces 90% of US antibiotics ( eg, Penicillin) and 40-50% of generic drug ingredients (APIs)
Medical Devices ( gloves, syringes, MRI components)

And WHY is that? Is it wrong to try and on-shore those manufacturing activities?

Covid-19 taught us that we can't be dependent on China, and yet those who oppose tariffs seem to have forgotten this.

It’s like closing the barn door after the horse is gone.
It’s too little too late.

Not at all. Why not a bipartisan bill that waives all regulatory requirements to build rare earth mines? Would Democrats vote for it?

So Trump has created an immediate crisis and you expect Dems to bend over backwards to dig him out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think he went for nuclear option really fast.
I thought he was going to use rare earth minerals and antibiotics as last resort.

Antibiotics??

China controls 70% global rare earth minerals and 90% processing.
China produces 90% of US antibiotics ( eg, Penicillin) and 40-50% of generic drug ingredients (APIs)
Medical Devices ( gloves, syringes, MRI components)

And WHY is that? Is it wrong to try and on-shore those manufacturing activities?

Covid-19 taught us that we can't be dependent on China, and yet those who oppose tariffs seem to have forgotten this.

It’s like closing the barn door after the horse is gone.
It’s too little too late.

Not at all. Why not a bipartisan bill that waives all regulatory requirements to build rare earth mines? Would Democrats vote for it?

There have been many bipartisan bills for subsidizing growth of the industry through direct grants and tax credits, and striking international trade deals. Rare earth metal acquisition is one issue that does draw bipartisan support. We have mines, albeit many are closed. We have sources for the raw materials. We don’t have processing capability yet because that takes years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think he went for nuclear option really fast.
I thought he was going to use rare earth minerals and antibiotics as last resort.

Antibiotics??

China controls 70% global rare earth minerals and 90% processing.
China produces 90% of US antibiotics ( eg, Penicillin) and 40-50% of generic drug ingredients (APIs)
Medical Devices ( gloves, syringes, MRI components)

NIH has banned all antibiotics and drugs. So too bad China!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think he went for nuclear option really fast.
I thought he was going to use rare earth minerals and antibiotics as last resort.

Antibiotics??

China controls 70% global rare earth minerals and 90% processing.
China produces 90% of US antibiotics ( eg, Penicillin) and 40-50% of generic drug ingredients (APIs)
Medical Devices ( gloves, syringes, MRI components)

And WHY is that? Is it wrong to try and on-shore those manufacturing activities?

Covid-19 taught us that we can't be dependent on China, and yet those who oppose tariffs seem to have forgotten this.

It’s like closing the barn door after the horse is gone.
It’s too little too late.

Not at all. Why not a bipartisan bill that waives all regulatory requirements to build rare earth mines? Would Democrats vote for it?

DP. It is low margin stuff. The reason the US and the rest of the world does not produce it is because it is not a huge market, it’s low margin and China corners the market. China keeps the prices low. It has nothing to do with regulation. Most of the stuff is recovered from slag and waste from other refinement processes.

Oh the Dems are not in control of the government. So you republicans can do your socialist command economy. What companies are you going to force to refine rare earths? What will the price be and who will be allowed to buy it?

Man you maga socialists are stupid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As dumb as this trade war is maybe we could have won it if we had allies. We made enemies out of Canada, Mexico and Europe, regardless of one’s political affiliation how can we survive with this level of stupidity?

I doubt we've made enemies out of them. They are, however, now well-aware that the U.S. isn't going to be a predictable market for their goods at low tariff rates unless they offer the same for American goods. Likewise, protectionist strategies for local industries will have to be reconsidered.

Canadian here. Maybe the word enemies is too strong. But the US has definitely lost or is losing close allies. We don’t trust the US anymore. We see that you don’t have our back anymore. We might take more time to decide whether to send in firefighters to fight your fires.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think he went for nuclear option really fast.
I thought he was going to use rare earth minerals and antibiotics as last resort.

Last resort is China selling off their share of our debt and cratering our bond market.

China has banned rare earth metals and tech before - last december, they banned germanium and gallium because of biden restricted their access to some American tech. However, it seems like the US was able to get the materials from China through 3rd party traders. They have banned exports at other times in the 2000's, including one incident when they stopped exporting to Japan.

This isn't like an ace from the sleeve, more like a noose that they have been tightening for 20-30 years. I wrote before that China controls 80% of processing, but I was wrong - they control 87% of processing. Banning exports to the US as they did in 2024, is not the same as what they are doing today - banning all exports. China was ok with the US getting metals through backdoor channels after the 2024 ban, but pausing all exports until they come up with new regulations could mean they are scrutinizing each export to make sure it doesn't make its way to the US. Aside from ev's, this is not good for the US military. Drones, missiles, aircraft, robots all use these metals.

In addition the invasion of Taiwan.
When the US is putting itself in box without friends China might think it’s a good idea to do it now.

[Anonymous]

China has now suspended all purchases of US beef (Australia and Brazil are cheering) and the purchase of all Boeing aircraft and parts (the EU and Brazil is cheering).

I guess the whole exercise is to make Brazil great again?