Reply to Usha Vance and child to go on taxpayer funded trip to Greenland

Forum Index » Political Discussion

Reply to "Usha Vance and child to go on taxpayer funded trip to Greenland"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]What is up with their obsession with Greenland? Elon musk must need it for critical minerals for something…too bad Republicans can’t focus on the price of eggs or on not destroying the global economy.[/quote]

I believe it is worse than Musk needing the elements. The US (and the world) needs them for everything and China just basically cut us off. Trump's advisors anticipated that happening due to the planned tariffs, and were already seeking a solution months ago.

From Time.com 4/9/2025 "How Rare Earths Are Playing a Pivotal Role in the U.S.-China Trade War":

In response to Donald Trump’s escalating tariffs, China retaliated in part by placing export restrictions on a slew of rare earth elements. These powerful materials are crucial to the U.S., because they underpin the creation of weapons, computer chips, and electric cars. China produces a majority of these rare earth materials—and experts say that the U.S. is years away from building its own supply chain...

But Villalobos says the greater threat to U.S. companies could come afterward, once China starts collecting detailed information about the rare earth market—which then gives China the ability to impose damaging sanctions upon specific companies. That could include U.S. defense companies like Lockheed Martin, which needs rare earths for components in missile systems and fighter jets. “This is the danger: The more information you can gather from exporters, the more you can target specific companies that you don't want getting access to rare earth,” he says...

Some have speculated that rare earths play a major role in Donald Trump’s interest in Greenland. Tech giants like Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos have invested in companies prospecting for rare earths there. But extracting resources out of Greenland poses many challenges. “Greenland has very little domestic energy production, and you can find those resources pretty much anywhere,” Trytten says. “There are much easier mining locations than the Arctic.”...

Regardless of whether Greenland is a viable option, many U.S. companies are now being forced to pursue non-Chinese rare earth options, even if it takes them years to develop. “Think about every automated thing: If you push a button and it moves, it’s probably reliant on some sort of rare earth magnet,” Villalobos says. “Whoever makes that, if they're in the U.S., Japan, or anywhere outside of China, they’re going to feel the impact from this—and they might be potential targets for sanctions in the future.”

[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics