Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.
China threatens to restrict rare earths exports to US
Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a welcoming ceremony for Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, May 14. Fuming over Washington's latest tariff hike in an escalating trade battle, Beijing has an array of options for retaliating, from limiting exports of rare earths to disrupting operations of Apple and other American companies in China. Reuters
By Jung Min-ho
By Jung Min-ho
China has threatened to use its position as a leading exporter of rare earths ― raw materials that are crucial for electronics ― in the escalating trade war with the United States.
“If any country wants to use products made of China's rare earths exports to contain China's development, the Chinese people would not be happy with that,”
a spokesperson from the National Development and Reform Commission, China's state planner.
According to the Global Times, a tabloid owned by the Communist Party's main mouthpiece, the People's Daily, Tuesday, rare-earth analyst Wu Chenhui claimed scaling down the exports to the United States would be a “smart hit” because U.S. companies depend on China for the material.
“It could inflict substantial damage on the U.S. military and tech industry, as rare earths are a key material in manufacturing chips, radar, fiber optics, night-vision goggles, missile guiding systems and tank armor,” the analyst said. “Just name a few big-name U.S. companies like Apple, Qualcomm and Raytheon … they could suffer a lot from the countermeasures.”
Rare earths are a group of 17 elements used in producing various products including wind turbines, smartphones and even missiles.
They are found in many parts of the world, but few countries mine or produce them because of environmental reasons.
China accounted for 80 percent of the rare earths the United States imported from 2014 to 2017.
The U.S. and its key allies can develop their own systems to mine and produce rare earths, but it will take some time. If China decides to reduce or ban the exports, short-term damage to the U.S. economy is inevitable.
, Beijing banned the export of rare earths to Japan after it detained a Chinese fishing trawler captain.