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Only a deeply stupid country would expose themselves to this risk:
China targets rare earth export curbs to hobble US defence industry
This has been a well known problem for at least a decade.
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@Tim said in US Politics:
Only a deeply stupid country would expose themselves to this risk:
China targets rare earth export curbs to hobble US defence industry
This has been a well known problem for at least a decade.
It's paywalled. You might need to summarize...
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@canefan said in US Politics:
It's paywalled. You might need to summarize...
China is exploring limiting the export of rare earth minerals that are crucial for the manufacture of American F-35 fighter jets and other sophisticated weaponry, according to people involved in a government consultation.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology last month proposed draft controls on the production and export of 17 rare earth minerals in China, which controls about 80 per cent of global supply.
Industry executives said government officials had asked them how badly companies in the US and Europe, including defence contractors, would be affected if China restricted rare earth exports during a bilateral dispute.
“The government wants to know if the US may have trouble making F-35 fighter jets if China imposes an export ban,” said a Chinese government adviser who asked not to be identified. Industry executives added that Beijing wanted to better understand how quickly the US could secure alternative sources of rare earths and increase its own production capacity.
China’s own rare earth security isn’t guaranteed. It can disappear when the US-China relationship deteriorates or Myanmar’s generals decide to shut the border
David Zhang, Sublime China Information
Fighter jets such as the F-35, a Lockheed Martin aircraft, rely heavily on rare earths for critical components such as electrical power systems and magnets. A Congressional Research Service report said that each F-35 required 417kg of rare-earth materialsThe Chinese move follows deteriorating Sino-US relations and an emerging technology war between the two countries. The Trump administration tried to make it harder for Chinese companies to import sensitive US technology, such as high-end semiconductors. The Biden administration has signalled that it would also restrict certain exports but would work more closely with allies.
Beijing’s control of rare earths threatens to become a new source of friction with Washington but some warn any aggressive moves by China could backfire by prompting rivals to develop their own production capacity.
In a November report, Zhang Rui, an analyst at Antaike, a government-backed consultancy in Beijing, said that US weapons makers could be among the first companies targeted by any export restriction.
China’s foreign ministry said last year it would sanction Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Raytheon for selling arms to Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing claims as its sovereign territory.
The proposed guidelines would require rare earth producers to follow export control laws that regulate shipments of materials that “help safeguard state security”. China’s State Council and Central Military Commission will have the final say on whether the list should include rare earths.
Rare earth minerals are also central to the manufacture of products including smartphones, electric vehicles and wind turbines.
The F-35 relies on rare earths for critical components such as electrical power systems © George Frey/Bloomberg
Some executives and officials are, however, questioning the wisdom of formally including rare earths in the export control regime. They argue that it would motivate Beijing’s rivals to accelerate their own production capacities and undermine China’s dominance of the industry.“Export controls are a doubled-edged sword that should be applied very carefully,” said Zhang of Antaike.
The Pentagon has become increasingly concerned about the US reliance on China for rare earths that are used in everything from precision-guided missiles to drones.
Ellen Lord, the top defence official for acquisitions until last year, told Congress in October that the US needed to create stockpiles of certain rare earths and re-establish domestic processing. She said the US had a “real vulnerability” because China floods the market to destroy any competition any time nations are about to start mining or producing.
In recent months, the Pentagon has signed contracts with American and Australian miners to boost their onshore refining capacity and reduce their reliance on Chinese refiners.
The US National Security Council did not respond to a request for comment.
Why China's control of rare earths matters
Chinese rare earth miners themselves are worried about the enhanced power the regulations would give MIIT to control their output.China began setting rare earth production limits in 2007 to keep prices high and reduce pollution but the policy is not legally binding and many miners regularly exceed their output quota. The latest regulations would allow the government to impose steep fines for unapproved sales.
“The new rule is not going to make China stronger in the global supply chain when local mines can’t operate at full capacity and an export ban is easier said than done,” said an executive, who asked not to be identified, at Guangdong Rare Earth Group, one of the nation’s largest rare earth groups.
In a statement, MIIT said the new law would help “protect national interest and ensure the security of strategic resources”.
According to government statistics, China’s demand for rare earths is so high that it has consistently exceeded domestic supply over the past five years, prompting a surge of Chinese imports from miners in the US and Myanmar.
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US-China: Washington revives plans for its rare earths industryA wide range of industries are driving demand for the strategic resource, including China’s electric vehicle and wind power generation sectors.
“China’s economic planners have failed to predict the surge in rare earth consumption,” said an executive at Gold Dragon Rare Earth Co in south-eastern Fujian Province.
“China’s own rare earth security isn’t guaranteed,” said David Zhang, an analyst at Sublime China Information, a consultancy. “It can disappear when the US-China relationship deteriorates or Myanmar’s generals decide to shut the border.”
While China’s dominance in rare earth mining is under threat, it maintains a near monopoly in the refining process that turns ores into materials ready for manufacturers.
The country controls about four-fifths of global rare earth refining capacity. Ores mined in the US must be sent to China as the US has no refining capacity of its own yet.
Industry executives, however, said China’s strength in refining had more to do with its higher tolerance for pollution than any technological edge.
Additional reporting by Tom Mitchell in Singapore
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@Tim said in US Politics:
Only a deeply stupid country would expose themselves to this risk:
China targets rare earth export curbs to hobble US defence industry
This has been a well known problem for at least a decade.
Truth
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@Siam said in US Politics:
The untold story of the election is the thousands of people of both parties who accomplished the triumph of American democracy at its very foundation,” says Norm Eisen, a prominent lawyer and former Obama Administration official who recruited Republicans and Democrats to the board of the Voter Protection Program.
Thank heavens a cabal of rich businessmen & elites stepped in to protect US democracy from a President they decided was "autocratically inclined" and took it upon themselves to decide on whether the election was fair or not.
It's great they fought the good fight against Trump-supporting conspiracy theorists.....
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@Tim said in US Politics:
Only a deeply stupid country would expose themselves to this risk:
Or a country run by vested interests more intent on short-term gain than US security.
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Because of a past history working in the power industry, I've been reading up on the issues that Texas is having currently, and came across this.
This sounded insane. Who would voluntarily forego critical infrastructure redundancy? However it seems to be verified by this:
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@Stockcar86 i read about that yesterday, it's pretty funny (well, not for the people suddenly freezing i guess)
The US really is a hilarious shitshow to watch.
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that particular example has obviously been around for a long time, I assume there are other similar examples, its fascinating learning this kind of stuff having grown up with this idea of the US juggernaut and the "united" meaning something and people chanting "USA...USA" and how untrue that seems to be once you scratch the surface
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@stockcar86 Check out News of the World for how it was 150 years ago.
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Virginia is about to abolish the death penalty. That doesn't sound like much, but that would make it the first southern state to do so. Virginia has the most executions of all the states and was the location of the first US execution, and also has the second most executions in the modern era after Texas, so it's a watershed moment in the abolitionist struggle.
The modern era is usually defined in the USA as post-Furman, which was a legal moratorium imposed by SCOTUS between 1972 and 1976 due to racial bias in death sentencing, with the first execution after that being Gary Gilmour by firing squad in 1977 in Utah (for sports fans, his last words were "Let's do it", which was the inspiration for Nike's catch phrase of "Just do it!").
Virginia used to be solidly Republican at state level, but has recently switched to Democratic, so it's interesting to see the various agenda items being progressed after the change and whether that will be replicated in other purple states.
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@catogrande Virginia elections are in the odd-numbered years, so although the governor, lieutenant (deputy) governor and Attorney-General have been Democrats since 2017 (earlier for some of them), the state legislatures flipped in Nov 2019, with the first session in Jan 2020.
I can't find anything to suggest it was specifically Democratic Party policy, but abolitionist groups normally work across parties because it's not a strictly partisan issue, although Democrats are usually in favour of abolition in larger numbers than Republicans. The abolition campaigns usually run for decades and never stop trying, so even if it wasn't party policy, it will always bubble up from time to time as a political issue.
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@godder said in US Politics:
Virginia is about to abolish the death penalty. That doesn't sound like much, but that would make it the first southern state to do so. Virginia has the most executions of all the states and was the location of the first US execution, and also has the second most executions in the modern era after Texas, so it's a watershed moment in the abolitionist struggle.
The modern era is usually defined in the USA as post-Furman, which was a legal moratorium imposed by SCOTUS between 1972 and 1976 due to racial bias in death sentencing, with the first execution after that being Gary Gilmour by firing squad in 1977 in Utah (for sports fans, his last words were "Let's do it", which was the inspiration for Nike's catch phrase of "Just do it!").
Virginia used to be solidly Republican at state level, but has recently switched to Democratic, so it's interesting to see the various agenda items being progressed after the change and whether that will be replicated in other purple states.
that's awesome
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@frank said in US Politics:
Covid nursing home supposed cover-up, multiple sexual harassment allegations emerging.
The once lauded Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo ain't having an easy time of it recently."The higher the profession of virtue, the lower the morals": Noel Coward
US Politics