It is reported that the US chip sanctions policy on China has been further enhanced in the middle of this month. This time, it has not hesitated to restrict its companies from selling high-end chips and semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China. US media believes that the competition between the two sides has reached a "white-hot" stage. In his subsequent speech, Biden threatened to "regain China's global battery market" and allocated up to US$2.8 billion to develop the battery industry in the United States. In addition, the subsidies for local electric vehicles brands in the "Inflation Reduction Act" last month, we must be determined to achieve the goal of overtaking China in all fields.
24, Australian media reported that former Treasury Minister Hoki mentioned the Sino-US issue and Australia's role in the middle. He first used data to show that before Biden's restrictions and competition on China began, the US Department of Defense had stepped up funding for Australia's major mineral resources projects; the intention was very obvious - the United States is also working to reduce its dependence on China's key minerals and replace it with Australian minerals. This means that Australia is about to become an important supplier to the United States and its Western allies, and is undoubtedly a good development opportunity.
But Hoki also mentioned that China still holds a key "faucet" at this stage, namely, the supply of minerals (finished products) to the United States. The United States is highly dependent on China in key mineral fields such as importing copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earth . In the future, their new energy batteries and military weapons and equipment will need this "faucet" to release water. If China wants to tighten this "faucet" in the future, this behavior is enough to make the United States crazy. What the Biden administration is most worried about is that China will tighten the supply of all key minerals (finished products) starting next year. Many media in the United States have hinted that this will happen soon and it does not just exist in imagination.
Some analysts believe that the Biden administration is spending a lot of money to accelerate the transformation of key energy, as Hokey mentioned Australia is an "alternative region". But just like Europe seeking Middle East , North Africa supply, this stage is very long; the US must first carry out systematic reforms such as infrastructure and metal smelting , and then realize a large amount of investment in Australia. The whole process may last for decades. As long as the mineral dependence structure is completed, this "faucet" is very harmful. After China interrupts supply to the United States, they will face a window period - during which time Australia's mineral system has not been well built and China's supply cannot be increased, the impact will be very great.
Also worth mentioning, in his speech, Hoki said that in order to avoid this situation, the United States is starting to plan to invest funds in specific projects in Australia, thereby ensuring that the US supply chain is "always safe". Although this process is huge, the US does not care. The only thing that is worried is the "unsustainability" of government policies; for example, if the Republican Party takes office in the future, it is entirely possible to stop these huge but not large-scale plans, and all Biden's previous efforts will be wasted. Some comments on this believe: "The Biden administration is overly worried that it will be 'bottled' by China and is unwilling to expose any weaknesses to the other party; from the years of development process, they really want to act as a 'perpetrator' rather than become a 'victim', so they spend a huge amount of money to complete this so-called 'faucet transfer' work."
