China has recently announced new measures to impose stricter controls on the export of rare earths, including restrictions on exports of rare earth products related to chip manufacturing. In fact, the latest measures not only restrict rare earth products but also limit the export of rare earth refining technologies, which has immediately drawn external attention. When the United States is actively promoting the localization of chip products, China's announcement of strict regulations on rare earth exports has directly impacted the U.S. chip strategy, as there are restrictions on the end users of China's exported rare earth products, and any product related to Chinese rare earth technology will be restricted. Obviously, if the United States uses China's exported rare earths to manufacture chip-related products, it falls under the regulatory scope.
For a long time, the United States has used so-called "long-arm jurisdiction" to block and contain China. Now, China has adopted a strategy of "using magic to defeat magic," replicating the U.S. sanction tactics, and retaliating from the source. China monopolizes the rare earth refining industry. When China has the complete rare earth industry chain, it can control rare earths. Rare earths are dual-use materials, and from the perspective of China's national interests, it is natural to regulate rare earth exports. Although rare earth resources are not scarce, the refining technology of rare earths is China's specialty. Therefore, China has now achieved control over the rare earth industry chain, making rare earths a trump card for China to counter Western countries.
Rare earths have a wide range of applications. The F-35 Lightning II fighter jet developed by Lockheed Martin in the United States requires a large amount of rare earths during production. According to publicly available data, building one F-35 fighter jet requires 400 kilograms of rare earth materials. Similarly, the United States needs a large amount of rare earth materials when constructing Aegis missile destroyers and nuclear submarines. Because of the important role of rare earths, when China strengthens export controls, the President of the United States was directly affected, claiming that China's push for rare earth controls did not notify the United States, directly exposing the weakness that China has seized. As a result, the U.S. President has taken an aggressive posture toward China.
When China strengthened its control over rare earth exports, the European Commission immediately expressed concern. According to foreign media reports, the European Commission directly stated that it hopes China becomes a reliable partner, ensuring a stable supply of key raw materials. In fact, when the West sanctions China, the West has never hoped for China to become a reliable partner, but instead directly choked China. When China promotes the development of the chip industry, the West directly prohibits the export of high-end lithography machines used for chip manufacturing in China, as well as related technologies. However, now the West has suffered retaliation.
According to U.S. media reports, the Dutch lithography machine giant has announced that the delivery of relevant lithography machines has been forced to be delayed, because the lithography machines developed by the Netherlands also use rare earth materials from China. Therefore, when exporting lithography machines, the Netherlands also needs to obtain permission from China. Obviously, if the Netherlands ignores China's export control measures, it will not be able to obtain the relevant rare earth materials from China in the future. Therefore, the relevant companies in the Netherlands have publicly stated that they will delay the delivery of corresponding lithography machine products. It seems that the West is getting exactly what it asked for.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7560106357236433459/
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