China halts rare earth exports, sparking fears of shortages in critical industries

[BogdanR]

The circus clown is only showing us how vulnerable we were the entire time.

The circus clowns have destroyed any chance the rest of the world will join into this fight.

 

[Branch]

Massive Lithium Deposit Unearthed in Nevada-Oregon Volcanic Caldera.
For copper, tap Alaska!

 

[yRaz]

The circus clowns have destroyed any chance the rest of the world will join into this fight.

Not really, the rest of the world is choosing ignorance because it was the clown that show everyone how weak the global economy is. Biden, Obama, Bush, Clinton. The issues that lead us to where we are today go back decades and we stood by and did nothing. If a fool as big as Trump can collapse the world economy in a matter of weeks, how strong was it really? The lie only works so long as everyone believes the lie. Trump showed everyone that it was a lie and now we're suffering the consequences of choosing a lie for decades of living in fake comfort.

I don't believe that Trump is some genius and it was his plan all along to bring fourth this change. I do believe that the last several presidents and the rest of the world with them had several decades to build a real, resilient economy that benefited everyone but choose not to. We never fixed the issues that lead to the 2009 financial crisis. We never fixed what created the dotcom bubble and the same thing is going to happen with the AI Bubble. People don't see the AI bubble as Dotcom PT 2. We're also in the midst of a housing crisis where people are paying more than they ever have in history while we have the most unsold housing on the market since the 2009 financial crisis. There is also the issue of "unlisted investment properties". there is no housing shortage, the market is just filled with delusional investors who over value what they have and are willing to keep refinancing and paying interest rather than sell.

The rest of the world is choosing to be more foolish than Trump simply because Trump was the catalyst. It wasn't several decades of bad fiscal policy that destroyed the economy, no, it was a few months of Trump in office.

The fools can go down with their ships if they choose. The funny thing is, it's the third world that is working with Trump and they're likely to be the winners. As the EU shuts their eyes and holds their ears closed, it's going to be the impoverished countries in South America, Africa and Asia that will come out on top.

The World Powers are being stubborn fools and their foolishness will be the end of their power. The fact that Trump is the catalyst for this is nothing more than a coincidence.

 

[BadThad]

This will hurt China, it's a good thing "rare earths" are not rare at all. The only edges they have are slave labor and no care for the environment.The mining and production of Chinese RE's gets an environmental pass by the world! Do you think they've paid their "carbon credits"? hahahahahaha It's a joke, the world permits China to destroy the earth but every other country has strong mining & processing regulations.

We shouldn't be using dirty Chinese, Uyghurs-slave produced RE's anyway - especially if we care about earth and people. Let's remove their stranglehold once and for all and process these things in a responsible manner. I'm willing to pay an extra dollar for a device if it means thwarting the communists.

 

[BadThad]

"China's dominance in rare earth production is rooted in its rich deposits near Longnan in Jiangxi Province. The region hosts mines that extract heavy rare earths through chemical-intensive processes known to cause severe pollution – a practice temporarily halted but seemingly resumed recently."

This is similar to Cracking that is being practiced in US to extract oil and pollute the soil and environment

I didn't know that Crackheads could produce oil! Great news! Now all we have to do is figure out what to do with all those syringes and baggies and we're gold.

 

[BadThad]

Perhaps an increase in product costs will make consumers ask that goods nolonger be disposable. It's weird that I have tools that are 50+ years old and still keep working, but I'm replacing my new tools often once a year.

The race to the bottom has been horrible for all aspects of society and cost more long term. I try to go by "buy once, cry once" but even that's nearly impossible in the world of cheap Chinese garbage.

I started hunting old tools at flea markets, garage sales, etc. about 20 years ago. New tools suck. I also inherited my father's and grandfather's tools - a man can never have too many and the older the better.

 

[BadThad]

I agree with this on the main points, especially with the race to the bottom one.

I remember being called a communist when circa 2001-2002 I was asking about what’s going to happen when the bottom is actually reached. How will we recover, I was asking. What’s going to happen when there’s a global event like a pandemic or a major conventional war, with so little strategic production capability left and even that is heavily dependent on components and materials coming from countries which may not be our allies anymore or simply be incapacitated.

And here we are. Rare earth and minerals are essential to our defence and high tech industries but all the mining and refining was shipped overseas in the name of the almighty dollar (whose allmightiness is starting to wear off as of late, btw.)

You’d think this major issue will be dealt with by using a lot of intelligent, tactful, strategic diplomacy and investing, alas the circus clowns seem to be in charge now in the US.

I was with you until that last sentence - unless you're talking about the circus clown that left the building Jan 20th 2025, let this fester for four years, and bowed to the communists?

This is a reckoning that needed to happen. It takes panic to motivate humans to take care of problems. There are more than enough RE's to take care of demand, we just need to fire up the operations that got mothballed and start new ones.

No worries, mark my words, the communists will CAVE. It's not IF but WHEN. They need American money to survive. America survived for 200 years without them and we will prevail with or without them. When you boil it all down to the most fundamental level, they have nothing that America needs.

 

[BadThad]

The circus clowns have destroyed any chance the rest of the world will join into this fight.

Yes, thank God they are no longer running America. We finally have a leader in America!

 

[BogdanR]

Yes, thank God they are no longer running America. We finally have a leader in America!

Thank you, I needed the laugh.

 

[BadThad]

Not really, the rest of the world is choosing ignorance because it was the clown that show everyone how weak the global economy is. Biden, Obama, Bush, Clinton. The issues that lead us to where we are today go back decades and we stood by and did nothing. If a fool as big as Trump can collapse the world economy in a matter of weeks, how strong was it really? The lie only works so long as everyone believes the lie. Trump showed everyone that it was a lie and now we're suffering the consequences of choosing a lie for decades of living in fake comfort.

I don't believe that Trump is some genius and it was his plan all along to bring fourth this change. I do believe that the last several presidents and the rest of the world with them had several decades to build a real, resilient economy that benefited everyone but choose not to. We never fixed the issues that lead to the 2009 financial crisis. We never fixed what created the dotcom bubble and the same thing is going to happen with the AI Bubble. People don't see the AI bubble as Dotcom PT 2. We're also in the midst of a housing crisis where people are paying more than they ever have in history while we have the most unsold housing on the market since the 2009 financial crisis. There is also the issue of "unlisted investment properties". there is no housing shortage, the market is just filled with delusional investors who over value what they have and are willing to keep refinancing and paying interest rather than sell.

The rest of the world is choosing to be more foolish than Trump simply because Trump was the catalyst. It wasn't several decades of bad fiscal policy that destroyed the economy, no, it was a few months of Trump in office.

The fools can go down with their ships if they choose. The funny thing is, it's the third world that is working with Trump and they're likely to be the winners. As the EU shuts their eyes and holds their ears closed, it's going to be the impoverished countries in South America, Africa and Asia that will come out on top.

The World Powers are being stubborn fools and their foolishness will be the end of their power. The fact that Trump is the catalyst for this is nothing more than a coincidence.

While we generally don't see eye to eye, I really appreciate that insightful post!

Globally, we all live in an illusion created by governments. They're all designed to benefit the "ruling class" while the rest of us work their fields. It hasn't changed in thousands of years, it just become more complex.

Now that Mr.Trump is pulling back the curtain, America can finally shine light on the politicians, thieves and scammers scurrying behind. The thieves of our hard earned, taxpayer money. The rest of the world should FOLLOW SUIT and demand their governments be examined and be made more efficient. For all the global crying about Trump, he's actually doing the WORLD a favor by setting an example. Always question what government is doing with your money!

 

[BogdanR]

I was with you until that last sentence - unless you're talking about the circus clown that left the building Jan 20th 2025, let this fester for four years, and bowed to the communists?

This is a reckoning that needed to happen. It takes panic to motivate humans to take care of problems. There are more than enough RE's to take care of demand, we just need to fire up the operations that got mothballed and start new ones.

No worries, mark my words, the communists will CAVE. It's not IF but WHEN. They need American money to survive. America survived for 200 years without them and we will prevail with or without them. When you boil it all down to the most fundamental level, they have nothing that America needs.

Be our guest and fight.
The rest of the world will wait and see. This fight shall knock both the US and China down a few notches from their perches and that’s a good thing.

 

[BogdanR]

Not really, the rest of the world is choosing ignorance because it was the clown that show everyone how weak the global economy is. Biden, Obama, Bush, Clinton. The issues that lead us to where we are today go back decades and we stood by and did nothing. If a fool as big as Trump can collapse the world economy in a matter of weeks, how strong was it really? The lie only works so long as everyone believes the lie. Trump showed everyone that it was a lie and now we're suffering the consequences of choosing a lie for decades of living in fake comfort.

I don't believe that Trump is some genius and it was his plan all along to bring fourth this change. I do believe that the last several presidents and the rest of the world with them had several decades to build a real, resilient economy that benefited everyone but choose not to. We never fixed the issues that lead to the 2009 financial crisis. We never fixed what created the dotcom bubble and the same thing is going to happen with the AI Bubble. People don't see the AI bubble as Dotcom PT 2. We're also in the midst of a housing crisis where people are paying more than they ever have in history while we have the most unsold housing on the market since the 2009 financial crisis. There is also the issue of "unlisted investment properties". there is no housing shortage, the market is just filled with delusional investors who over value what they have and are willing to keep refinancing and paying interest rather than sell.

The rest of the world is choosing to be more foolish than Trump simply because Trump was the catalyst. It wasn't several decades of bad fiscal policy that destroyed the economy, no, it was a few months of Trump in office.

The fools can go down with their ships if they choose. The funny thing is, it's the third world that is working with Trump and they're likely to be the winners. As the EU shuts their eyes and holds their ears closed, it's going to be the impoverished countries in South America, Africa and Asia that will come out on top.

The World Powers are being stubborn fools and their foolishness will be the end of their power. The fact that Trump is the catalyst for this is nothing more than a coincidence.

I somewhat was with you until the end where you lost me with the third world and the rest.
The US are alone in this because this is what they wanted. The rest of the world will oblige and not interfere in this fight.
Have a great evening.

 

[yRaz]

I somewhat was with you until the end where you lost me with the third world and the rest.
The US are alone in this because this is what they wanted. The rest of the world will oblige and not interfere in this fight.
Have a great evening.

"I was with you until you said this one thing that I wont elaborate on and just happens to you wrong so now I'm just going to stop replying which should makes me feel like I'm winning an argument"

There are countries wanting to negotiate with Trump and the ones who are doing so openly are some of the weakest in the world. Rather than bring manufacturing back to the US, US based companies are likely to setup shop there for cheap labor, lack of environmental control and all the human rights violations they could dream of. And they will benefit IMMENSELY for it. All the while, the US will get to exert it's influence over those countries in ways it didn't with China. I doubt the US, if it ever recovers, will make the same mistake in those countries that it did with China.

 

[BogdanR]

"I was with you until you said this one thing that I wont elaborate on and just happens to you wrong so now I'm just going to stop replying which should makes me feel like I'm winning an argument"

There are countries wanting to negotiate with Trump and the ones who are doing so openly are some of the weakest in the world. Rather than bring manufacturing back to the US, US based companies are likely to setup shop there for cheap labor, lack of environmental control and all the human rights violations they could dream of. And they will benefit IMMENSELY for it. All the while, the US will get to exert it's influence over those countries in ways it didn't with China. I doubt the US, if it ever recovers, will make the same mistake in those countries that it did with China.

You got me all wrong, I’m not here to win anything, just to exchange ideas, perhaps better ones will emerge.

As for relocating manufacturing to different countries, the reality is that China is in a significantly better position to do it as they also have some of the expertise already lost in the US (and not only). That’s exactly what Apple is investigating along Foxconn in India. By the way, the facilities Apple are building in Texas are also along Foxconn and that’s actually a good thing.

So, the situation is significantly more nuanced and not necessarily favourable to the USA.

 

[TooQik]

"I was with you until you said this one thing that I wont elaborate on and just happens to you wrong so now I'm just going to stop replying which should makes me feel like I'm winning an argument"

There are countries wanting to negotiate with Trump and the ones who are doing so openly are some of the weakest in the world. Rather than bring manufacturing back to the US, US based companies are likely to setup shop there for cheap labor, lack of environmental control and all the human rights violations they could dream of. And they will benefit IMMENSELY for it. All the while, the US will get to exert it's influence over those countries in ways it didn't with China. I doubt the US, if it ever recovers, will make the same mistake in those countries that it did with China.

The problem with moving manufacturing to other countries willing to work with the US, is that the US still can't fully control what happens in those countries. You can essentially end up in the exact same situation in the future if/when said country decides to restrict the US to the goods/resources it now produces.

Unless you can manufacture everything in your own country, and unless you can obtain every resource required to manufacture those goods within your own country, there is always going to be the need to import goods and resources. I doubt there are many (if any) countries around the world currently capable of being 100% self sustaining in this regard.

 

[BadThad]

"I was with you until you said this one thing that I wont elaborate on and just happens to you wrong so now I'm just going to stop replying which should makes me feel like I'm winning an argument"

There are countries wanting to negotiate with Trump and the ones who are doing so openly are some of the weakest in the world. Rather than bring manufacturing back to the US, US based companies are likely to setup shop there for cheap labor, lack of environmental control and all the human rights violations they could dream of. And they will benefit IMMENSELY for it. All the while, the US will get to exert it's influence over those countries in ways it didn't with China. I doubt the US, if it ever recovers, will make the same mistake in those countries that it did with China.

I can actually see that. While there will certainly be a partial shift to America, the latin/central America countries could be the benefactors with cheap, competitive labor. Right now, it's on their leaders to make their countries desirable for companies to invest in. China's loss - others around the global will pick-up the lost business and I wish them luck!

 

[BadThad]

The problem with moving manufacturing to other countries willing to work with the US, is that the US still can't fully control what happens in those countries. You can essentially end up in the exact same situation in the future if/when said country decides to restrict the US to the goods/resources it now produces.

Unless you can manufacture everything in your own country, and unless you can obtain every resource required to manufacture those goods within your own country, there is always going to be the need to import goods and resources. I doubt there are many (if any) countries around the world currently capable of being 100% self sustaining in this regard.

Importing is GOOD, every country has something to offer another and it brings competition into a marketplace. However, it must be fair and balanced for all parties. Goods should end-up very close in price to domestically sourced ones. Tariffs should be used to achieve that balance. How is it fair for both parties any other way?

 

[mosu]

And yet,all I can see is a concert of bashing president Trump for trying to restore a balance in international trade and forcing the return of essential industries to the US.

 

[TooQik]

Importing is GOOD, every country has something to offer another and it brings competition into a marketplace. However, it must be fair and balanced for all parties. Goods should end-up very close in price to domestically sourced ones. Tariffs should be used to achieve that balance. How is it fair for both parties any other way?

I agree.

My previous post was essentially saying that no country can get away without some imports, just in a very long winded way.

 

[Loadedaxe]

The tech race is on and it’s not just about gadgets anymore. We're upgrading ourselves into oblivion. Phones replaced every two years, PCs trashed every 3–5, appliances dying on schedule. Everything is disposable, designed to fail. Planned obsolescence isn’t a flaw...it’s the plan.

And the masterminds? Our beloved tech giant monsters, Apple, Microsoft, Intel, AMD, Nvidia. They churn out just enough "innovation" to make your current device feel like garbage. Buy new or be left behind. Repair? Compatibility? Environmental impact? Please, ffs, there’s no profit in sustainability.

But while we’re busy refreshing our phones and graphics cards, there’s another upgrade happening.....the global arms race. AI enhanced warfare, hypersonic missiles, autonomous drones, it’s not just about who has the fastest CPU, but who can destroy more, faster. We're engineering smarter ways to kill each other while pretending it’s all about progress.

Humans aren’t just destroying the planet, nope, we’re designing our own extinction. One product launch, one weapons test, one upgrade at a time.

And for all you that think Trump is going to stop this...Please. You think Trump, or anyone like him can rein this in? He couldn’t even manage a tweet without causing an international incident. Controlling global tech and military escalation? Out of his depth and out of his mind.

I genuinely think Trump believes he’s trying to make America great again. But slogans don’t stop global tech monopolies. They don’t regulate AI arms development. They don’t halt environmental collapse driven by corporate greed. He’s one man trying to steer a machine that’s long outgrown any single person’s control. America doesn’t just need to be “great again”, nope....it needs to be wise, sustainable, and united.

Greatness isn’t about catchphrases or nostalgia. It’s about foresight, responsibility, and long-term thinking....none of which you’ll find in late night rants or gold plated campaign hats. He’s a man trying to steer a runaway train with a branding slogan and no brakes.

The harsh truth? We did this. We drove ourselves here. We fed the cycle with every impulse buy, every toss of a “still-working” gadget, every moment we let profit trump (pun intended) principle. And it won’t be us who pay the full price, hell no, it’ll be the generations after us. Our kids and theirs will inherit a scorched planet, fractured societies, and a world designed for short term gain and long term collapse.

 

[scoffer]

Example number eleventy billion on why exporting all your industrial needs to one political adversary is a bad idea.

But not if you're a greedy corporate POS. Infinite greed, and the line must go up.

 

[candle86]

The iPhone is a product designed in the US but manufactured in China. If China refuses to produce iPhones or closes its market to Apple, they will go bankrupt in a second. The iPhone is several generations behind phones from other manufacturers, with the exception of the processor.
Tell me about the quality of the F-35, which is so poorly designed that it flies worse than the previous generation F-16.
Every month I see how Intel's mouthpieces reprint the same news about the Intel18A process technology, reporting positive news and all the time hinting that it is a competitor to the TMS N2 and not the N3 and will be released in 2025, not 2026, as if the fact that they will reprint this news will turn from a lie into the truth. In the US, everything is so bad with production that you can't even imagine.

I'm forced to assume that you're one of the paid Chinese posters on the internet at this point. Your statement about the f-35 doesn't ring true at all as a matter of fact every pilot that's ever flown the thing and a war game against previous generation fighters goes holy crap because they managed to shoot everything down before the generation 4.5 fighters get a lock. The only time it's worse is what it turns into a gun dog fight and they're zero reason for that to ever happen.

Ensure China could refuse to manufacture certain things but it hurts their economy worse actually we actually have the stuff here in America to build iPhones it exists we can't build them in such large amounts yet but we have the actual ability to do it, and thanks to Trump that capability is expanding rapidly.

As far as Intel's new process I don't really care is TSMC can do it better if until starts fabbing the chips solely here in America and assembling them here in America which is their promise I'll stick to buying them as a matter of fact I'll stop buying horizon unless AMD starts assembling theirs here as well. As soon as one of the GPU makers starts assembling the GPUs here which ironically Intel could be the first one to do it I will stick to solely buying their product same thing with any sort of motherboard I will pay the premium for Superior American production. And at the end of the day that's what this really boils down to American made cost more but it tends to be 10 times higher quality than anything they can produce in China because in China quantity over quality they don't understand what the word quality means.

But as I said your posts tell me that more than likely you're on a VPN out of China and are acting as an official mouthpiece to the CCP.

 

[BogdanR]

The tech race is on and it’s not just about gadgets anymore. We're upgrading ourselves into oblivion. Phones replaced every two years, PCs trashed every 3–5, appliances dying on schedule. Everything is disposable, designed to fail. Planned obsolescence isn’t a flaw...it’s the plan.

And the masterminds? Our beloved tech giant monsters, Apple, Microsoft, Intel, AMD, Nvidia. They churn out just enough "innovation" to make your current device feel like garbage. Buy new or be left behind. Repair? Compatibility? Environmental impact? Please, ffs, there’s no profit in sustainability.

But while we’re busy refreshing our phones and graphics cards, there’s another upgrade happening.....the global arms race. AI enhanced warfare, hypersonic missiles, autonomous drones, it’s not just about who has the fastest CPU, but who can destroy more, faster. We're engineering smarter ways to kill each other while pretending it’s all about progress.

Humans aren’t just destroying the planet, nope, we’re designing our own extinction. One product launch, one weapons test, one upgrade at a time.

And for all you that think Trump is going to stop this...Please. You think Trump, or anyone like him can rein this in? He couldn’t even manage a tweet without causing an international incident. Controlling global tech and military escalation? Out of his depth and out of his mind.

I genuinely think Trump believes he’s trying to make America great again. But slogans don’t stop global tech monopolies. They don’t regulate AI arms development. They don’t halt environmental collapse driven by corporate greed. He’s one man trying to steer a machine that’s long outgrown any single person’s control. America doesn’t just need to be “great again”, nope....it needs to be wise, sustainable, and united.

Greatness isn’t about catchphrases or nostalgia. It’s about foresight, responsibility, and long-term thinking....none of which you’ll find in late night rants or gold plated campaign hats. He’s a man trying to steer a runaway train with a branding slogan and no brakes.

The harsh truth? We did this. We drove ourselves here. We fed the cycle with every impulse buy, every toss of a “still-working” gadget, every moment we let profit trump (pun intended) principle. And it won’t be us who pay the full price, hell no, it’ll be the generations after us. Our kids and theirs will inherit a scorched planet, fractured societies, and a world designed for short term gain and long term collapse.

100% this.

And the only solution I see is the West banding together in showing slightly more carrot than stick to China. Carrot in planned investments to entice China to open some joint ventures in both US, UE and elsewhere, serving those markets and stick in form of increasing tariffs if they fail to cooperate.

That, along admitting the “Greed is Good” mantra (which has driven Friedmanian Capitalism) is what has gotten us in this situation.

 

[Che Cazzo]

I'm forced to assume that you're one of the paid Chinese posters on the internet at this point. Your statement about the f-35 doesn't ring true at all as a matter of fact every pilot that's ever flown the thing and a war game against previous generation fighters goes holy crap because they managed to shoot everything down before the generation 4.5 fighters get a lock. The only time it's worse is what it turns into a gun dog fight and they're zero reason for that to ever happen.

Ensure China could refuse to manufacture certain things but it hurts their economy worse actually we actually have the stuff here in America to build iPhones it exists we can't build them in such large amounts yet but we have the actual ability to do it, and thanks to Trump that capability is expanding rapidly.

As far as Intel's new process I don't really care is TSMC can do it better if until starts fabbing the chips solely here in America and assembling them here in America which is their promise I'll stick to buying them as a matter of fact I'll stop buying horizon unless AMD starts assembling theirs here as well. As soon as one of the GPU makers starts assembling the GPUs here which ironically Intel could be the first one to do it I will stick to solely buying their product same thing with any sort of motherboard I will pay the premium for Superior American production. And at the end of the day that's what this really boils down to American made cost more but it tends to be 10 times higher quality than anything they can produce in China because in China quantity over quality they don't understand what the word quality means.

But as I said your posts tell me that more than likely you're on a VPN out of China and are acting as an official mouthpiece to the CCP.

When someone throws a ton of facts at the cultists, the extreme butt-hurt, utter ignorance and helplessness compels them to label the poster a Chinese / Russian, VPN user (! LOL!!) etc.

Their leader has dug himself a euuuuge hole, but instead of stopping, he keeps on digging and the cerebrum-less crowd keeps on cheering while the country has become a laughing stock 5th World country with a big army!

 

[candle86]

When someone throws a ton of facts at the cultists, the extreme butt-hurt, utter ignorance and helplessness compels them to label the poster a Chinese / Russian, VPN user (! LOL!!) etc.

Their leader has dug himself a euuuuge hole, but instead of stopping, he keeps on digging and the cerebrum-less crowd keeps on cheering while the country has become a laughing stock 5th World country with a big army!

No I'm really playing out of fact that he doesn't have any facts just talking points of the CCP, a known unfriendly hostile nation whose single soul goal is to run the planet