PSA: rare earth's aren't rare. It's the separation from each other and the bulk of earth that makes it cumbersome. It's basically processing capacity that China has today.
Invest in local processing plants.
Yes, resource availability isn't the issue, and "just invest more" has some massive hurdles:
All these mean any processing outside of China is going to be incredibly expensive and competitively unprofitable. It's not impossible to do, and removing dependence from China is probably worth it, but it's going to take a lot of capital and time to achieve and sustain.
Donald Trump is a goddamn fucking moron
Wasn't very hard to find. Trump hasn't shut up about it since he got elected.
Not hard to find, but hard to properly leverage.
This is the result of a multi-year effort by China to insulate themselves from very specific retaliatory measures i.e. leverage the USA had over them, but not any longer.
Wild that China is the only one that learned from Trump in 2016, and prepare for what was coming.
Of course, most of that is what China's been doing anyway for a couple decades, so that may be more coincidental.
That's just China's goto for any international being, as they're literally the only ones capable/willing of processing them.
If only we knew how to... I dunno... invest in something other than Lithium. Something ubiquitous and cheap... like sodium.
Nahhhh
Your point is valid but less relevant. Lithium is an alkali metal found in different sources than rare earths, with Australia and South America producing the most.
Rare earths are expensive to refine which is why western mines and refineries have been outcompeted by China. If we were to subsidise local production we'd have an abundance, e.g. from Scandinavia.
Expensive to process safely and in an ecologically-conscious manner. Aka expensive in money but it's important to note the environmental damage these processing plants can do when unregulated.
It's not new, and it's known to China and any half-intelligent observer forever. Rare earths are the only lever China has on US. US on the other hand has a chokehold on China's throat, its economic future and present: AI chips, and the largest single export market for China's economic engine while its economy falters - its exports. Trump has the leverage, and he's bargaining hard.
You’re either a propaganda bot or someone facing propaganda toxicity.
You are sadly not well informed on the global trade and economics. Read my comment history. I don't like China or Trump. Both are authoritarian regimes and fascists. I suppose that makes you in favor of China and a Chinese bot on a Western discussion board?
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