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China Restrict Exports to the U.S of 7 Rare Earth Metals

DarkNoon said:
BREAKING: China to restrict exports to the U.S of 7 rare earth metals—including samarium, terbium, and lutetium.

These minerals are essential for electronics, defense systems, and renewable energy tech. China currently controls nearly 73% of all global rare earth production.
https://twitter.com/x/status/1909281420138230117
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Interesting choice. In chemistry circles lutetium is famously known as the most useless of all elements. It has literally (almost) no uses - to the point that obtaining a pure sample for an elements collection (yes, I have one) proved quite difficult.

Samarium and terbium are another story.
 
This hits us where it hurts:
  • Defense: Those metals go into guidance systems, jet engines, and precision weapons.
  • Green tech: EV motors, wind turbines, and energy storage rely on them.
  • Supply chains: Already fragile, now potentially disrupted for years.

And the worst part... It’s not easily fixable. We can’t just "drill our way out" refining and processing rare earths is expensive, environmentally toxic, and takes 10+ years to scale.

This wasn’t just economic retaliation. This was a signal by China:
“We know what you need. We know how long it would take you to replace us. We’re willing to escalate.”

In other words... the game board just got smaller and the stakes just got higher. This isn’t just about metals. This is about leverage. And China just pulled their Trump card. No pun intend.
 
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This somehow flew under my radar. Well I'm watching Iran super close. Not even paying attention to what's happening in Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen anymore either atm. All eyes on Iran. With my back eyes on Taiwan...

Anyways that's why I missed it. ;) Story 15 hours old. This is still really hella bad though being cut off from those rare earths... 😬
 
Good the US also possesses these ores and we can begin processing them here or get them from Brazil or Australia.

Kinda like the recent lithium finds in the US.

This is a news flash story to cause fear.

Next please
 
OReid said:
Good the US also possesses these ores and we can begin processing them here or get them from Brazil or Australia.

Kinda like the recent lithium finds in the US.

This is a news flash story to cause fear.
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It’s not that simple. We can’t just “drill our way out” of this. Rare earth refining is costly, environmentally nasty, and takes a decade or more to scale up even if we do have the political will to push it today.

OReid said:
Next please
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Ah yes, the classic “next” move always a sign someone has airtight facts and a bulletproof argument.
 
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Fact check: No, America does not have all the rare earths we need, at least not in quantities we’ve discovered, let alone enough worth extracting.

On top of that, we have Trump blowing up relationships with the very allies we’d need to source rare earths from instead of China. Jeeze...

This feels like the same hollow logic we’ve seen play out the past month: that somehow it makes sense to blow up $8 trillion in capital just to shave off a $1.2 trillion trade deficit.

It’s backward economics, and frankly, non-sensical if we’re being polite.
 
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william said:
Life I mean America will find a way. Don't bet against her! You'll lose. ;)
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I'm absolutely betting against America. It doesn't make me happy (I love the country, and would rather see it prosper), but the writing is on the wall. The political construct known as the USA is going down in flames. Something will replace it, but it will not be the America we know.

Here's a mood:

In Princess Mononoke (a movie by Hayao Miyazaki of the Studio Ghibli fame) we see an enchanted forest ruled over by Shishigami, a powerful yet benevolent entity. As human civilization encroaches upon nature, a local tribe sets its eyes on the forest's riches. One thing leads to another, until eventually Eboshi - the tribe's chieftan - grabs a shotgun and unceremoniously blows Shishigami's head clean off. This has unintended consequences in that the now-headless deity uncontrollably morphs into a huge kaiju-like monster that begins to indiscriminately destroy everything in its path - including the human settlement and even its own forest.

A good metaphor for what the US has become: a headless titan, incapable of rational thought and ultimately doomed, but still powerful. It brings the world down even as it itself expires.
 

White House preparing order to allow stockpiling metals from Pacific bottom: report​

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The White House is preparing an executive order that will allow for stockpiling of metals found on the seabed of the Pacific Ocean, the Financial Times reported Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter.
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According to the report, the order would be a push to challenge the dominance by China of battery minerals and rare earth supply chains, the people reportedly said.

The U.S. has been seeking to become more self-sufficient in accessing the minerals and announced moves to boost domestic output.

The stockpile under consideration is part of a wider drive to fast-track applications for deep-sea mining and to establish onshore processing of nodules, the people familiar with the plans were quoted as saying.
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RARE EARTHS AREN’T RARE—CHINA OWNS THE REFINING, NOT THE MINES
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Rare earth minerals are found all over the world—including in the U.S.—but China controls over 85% of global refining. That’s the chokehold. The problem isn’t digging the stuff up. It’s turning it into magnets for EVs, missiles, and wind turbines. Even U.S.-mined material often gets sent to China for processing. Until America rebuilds its heavy industry, it will stay dependent. The minerals are here—but the power is still there. Source: USGS, IEA
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Many people are seeing deep-sea mining in the news and hearing about polymetallic nodules for the first time — and wondering if it’s science fiction. It’s not. In 2022, together with Allseas we successfully collected over 3,000 tons of nodules from the seafloor — proving the tech works and that we can collect these remarkable rocks efficiently and responsibly.
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So what are polymetallic nodules? They’re naturally occurring rocks found on the seafloor that contain high concentrations of four critical metals for the energy transition, infrastructure and development (Nickel Cobalt Copper Manganese) These small rocks could have a big impact. TMC’s contract areas in the Clarion Clipperton Zone are the two largest undeveloped nickel projects on planet.
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The real scandal isn’t China’s dominance—it’s Washington’s decades of failure to rebuild domestic refining capacity. The Mountain Pass mine proves we’ve had the minerals all along, but bureaucratic inertia and weak leadership let critical processing infrastructure rot. Biden’s $35 million handout to MP Materials was a band-aid on a bullet wound—China still refines 90% of global supply. The solution? Slash red tape choking domestic heavy industry revival. Tariffs alone won’t fix this; we need wartime-speed permitting for refineries and magnet plants. Every day we outsource processing to China is a day we fund their military-tech rise with our own resources.
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1911511526239789446
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1911171567708753959
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Socom7 said:
I'm absolutely betting against America. It doesn't make me happy (I love the country, and would rather see it prosper), but the writing is on the wall. The political construct known as the USA is going down in flames. Something will replace it, but it will not be the America we know.

Here's a mood:

In Princess Mononoke (a movie by Hayao Miyazaki of the Studio Ghibli fame) we see an enchanted forest ruled over by Shishigami, a powerful yet benevolent entity. As human civilization encroaches upon nature, a local tribe sets its eyes on the forest's riches. One thing leads to another, until eventually Eboshi - the tribe's chieftan - grabs a shotgun and unceremoniously blows Shishigami's head clean off. This has unintended consequences in that the now-headless deity uncontrollably morphs into a huge kaiju-like monster that begins to indiscriminately destroy everything in its path - including the human settlement and even its own forest.

A good metaphor for what the US has become: a headless titan, incapable of rational thought and ultimately doomed, but still powerful. It brings the world down even as it itself expires.
Click to expand...
https://twitter.com/x/status/1911512500740186528
Click to expand...
 
Rare metals are interesting and there is a lot of interest in electronic applications but there is another as to unmentioned use of rare earths. There is a combination of rare earths called mischmetal that when added to galvanising finishes creates something call galfanisation that dramatically improves corrosion resistance of metal installations in marine and other corrosive environments.

Mischmetal is an alloy primarily of rare-earth elements, most notably cerium and lanthanum. It also includes smaller amounts of other rare earth metals like neodymium and praseodymium, along with iron and trace amounts of other elements.
Galfan coating significantly enhances corrosion resistance compared to traditional galvanization, offering up to 2-3 times longer service life. This is achieved through a zinc-aluminum alloy composition, specifically 95% zinc and 5% aluminum, which provides a denser and more protective barrier. The addition of mischmetal (0.05%) further improves adhesion and creates a micro-scale armor coating structure.
However, GALFAN-coating features corrosion resistance that is up to 3 times better than traditional galvanisation, as well as enhanced forming properties to produce a smoother finish to the coating. This meansincreased survivability of marine structures with the ability to have reduced maintenance cycles.

Ironically the use of galfan coating technology has a lot of patent control by the Australian billionaire Clive Palmer. Is a nice little money earner for him and his Chinese associates.
 
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