According to recent reports from the US media, columnist Gabriel Dominguez published an article "The West's Complicated Path to Ending its Dependence on China's Rare Earths", pointing out that not long ago members of the US Senate proposed a bill with bipartisan support calling for the It will prohibit any U.S. military weapons and equipment from using rare earth metals produced in China before 2027, and force the U.S. military to find ways to have sufficient strategic reserves of rare earths before then.
Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, one of the sponsors of the bill, said that the purpose of the bill is to end "the United States' reliance on China to extract and process these metal elements." He called the bill "critical to winning the strategic competition with China and protecting our national security. The fact that it passes means we are winning." The rare earth elements and , which include 17 elements, play an important role in modern life as they are essential for high-tech civilian and military applications.
They are strategically important to the role of modern, increasingly interconnected armed forces. A key issue for the United States and its allies is that China remains the global leader in rare earth mining, extraction and component manufacturing. According to U.S. Geological Survey statistics, China controls about 37% of the world's rare earth reserves, and in 2020 rare earth mines production accounted for 58% of the world's. The U.S.'s dependence on China's imports of rare earths has prompted some politicians in Washington to push for legislation. In addition to undermining China’s decades-long dominance in this area, the legislation is designed to ensure U.S. access to these vital elements, especially given the two countries’ continued embroilment in trade disputes.
Concerns in Washington have intensified, perhaps because of news that China is merging its rare earth industries to promote cost competitiveness, improve production efficiency and gain control over fixed prices. At the end of 2021, China's three major rare earth producers merged to form China Rare Earth Group Corporation. Yenik Radon, an expert on sustainable natural resource development at Columbia University , said that the recent merger may also be a means for the Chinese government to crack down on illegal rare earth exports, and it is also an opportunity to implement and enforce higher industry environmental standards.
Jacob, a senior analyst at the German think tank Mercator China Institute, proposed that by merging oligarchs into quasi monopolies , China has reduced the management difficulty of these enterprises and helped enhance their global strength. For the West, after suffering the impact of the new crown pandemic, under the current conflict scenario, people see that the Western economic system is accelerating to a new direction, which is characterized by the consumption of energy and certain resources becoming the first to be affected. object of control. Welcome to the era of shortages, which may include rare earths. Text/PY
