- The President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, would have imagined that the entire global community would be cowering down from the tariff war unleashed by the maverick leader, expecting the international leadership to reach out to the man seeking to slow down the matter. After all, what is at stake is the economic well-being of the nations that would feel the pinch of tariff terror in more than one way. As expected, several leaders representing different countries have expressed willingness to reach out to the US administration to ensure their respective countries are less affected by the mayhem. However, a few countries have shown enough resilience and gumption not to bend over backwards to whatever Trump introduces on a whim.
PC: Yahoo
- China is one country that has not only stood up to the extremely unpredictable leader by reciprocating the tariffs but also has conveyed in no uncertain terms that it will not relent one bit from taking on the might of the USA. The nonchalance with which Beijing has disposed of the last few weeks suggests that the top Chinese leadership is not too worried about the consequences of imposing reciprocal tariffs on the USA. As reported, China has imposed curbs on rare earth exports, showcasing its power to turn on the heat on the global community. This move could potentially backfire. China has not exported earth metals and powerful magnets made out of them for over 10 days now. Mind you, this is part of its retaliation against Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, but the export pause hurts all countries, not just America. China has been careful not to call it a ban.
PC: Business Standard
- China says exports will resume after it creates a new licence system. The fear around the globe is that China will use its discretion to hurt unfriendly countries like the US. Delays of 45 days or more are likely, as reports suggest. For the uninitiated, rare earth metals are key ingredients of electric cars, rockets, computer chips, and even vacuum cleaners, so a supply choke will hurt industries downstream. Tesla cars and other EVs can’t do without super-strong magnets. Critically, the US and everyone else need them for military applications like drones that have proved their worth in the Ukraine war. But this is China’s moment, you see. It has built a monopoly on rare earth processing – the metals themselves aren’t actually rare in soil and magnet manufacturing.
PC: News.az
Thus, Beijing can pay back the US for tariffs and the AI chip ban. Is the US rattled by defiance? A top official termed China’s decision concerning, but there’s no panic as yet, probably because this isn’t the first time China has weaponized its rare earth monopoly. It stopped exports to Japan in 2010, with the result that Japan maintains a year’s stockpile now. The US does not have a large critical reserve of rare earths, but it isn’t such a big deal there either. The US buys just $170mn worth of them in a year. That’s 0.03% of its trade with China. While Trump’s tariffs are bad, China is doing itself no favour with this rare earth blackmail. Other countries can step in happily. The Chinese leadership should rationalize the moves without allowing prudence to overshadow.
