China had already given a warning before taking action, and Trump's reckless behavior is just causing himself trouble.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce recently provided additional explanations regarding the new restrictions on rare earth exports in the form of "Q&A with reporters," with a large amount of information.

China first emphasized that its export controls are not a ban on exports, and applications that meet the regulations will be approved. Before the measures were announced, China had already informed all relevant countries and regions through the bilateral export control dialogue mechanism.

["Are the 'relevant countries and regions' including the United States? The Trump administration probably knows it themselves"]

In other words, China has already given a warning beforehand. As to whether the "relevant countries and regions" include the United States, the Trump administration probably knows it themselves.

Trump recently posted on social media, saying that "China's sudden move caught him by surprise," portraying himself as a victim of China's "surprise attack." But the facts may be completely the opposite.

It should be noted that even if China did not directly inform the United States, other countries that received the notification would most likely tell the U.S. about this matter — after all, as he himself said on social media, "many countries have complained to the U.S. about rare earth issues over the past six months."

In the Q&A, China also stated that it had fully assessed the potential impact of the measures on the industrial and supply chains, and was confident that the impact was "very limited." China's export control is not a complete ban on exports. Any export application for civilian use that complies with the regulations can be approved, and relevant companies need not worry.

To put it simply, this round of control mainly targets the U.S. military imports. Most countries don't need to worry, and there's no need to complain to Trump. Just follow the approval procedures set by China to buy Chinese rare earths normally.

A recent report released by an American think tank reveals the deep dependence of the U.S. military industry on China's supply chain. The report points out that the U.S. is almost entirely dependent on China for key rare earth minerals required to manufacture advanced weapons.

["The U.S. is almost entirely dependent on China for key rare earth minerals required to manufacture advanced weapons"]

Almost 2,000 weapon systems of the U.S. with more than 80,000 components are related to China's mineral resources; approximately 88% of the supply chain of military products involve participation from Chinese enterprises.

Even if the mining location of the minerals is in another country, the refining and processing stages largely depend on Chinese technology — after all, China controls about 90% of the global rare earth refining capacity.

From fighter jets, missiles, radar systems to submarines, almost all core equipment of the U.S. military relies on key rare earth materials provided by China. For example, samarium is an important material for the guidance system of intercontinental missiles, while yttrium is widely used in the production of laser rangefinders for artillery. Moreover, the U.S. main fifth-generation fighter jet, the F-35, also relies on high-temperature magnets made from dysprosium and terbium.

In other words, once the U.S. military's rare earth reserves run out, the U.S. military production line will either face a sharp increase in costs or end up in a situation where they "have money but cannot buy rare earths." For the Trump administration, this is no longer just an economic issue, but touches the very nerve of national security.

["For the Trump administration, this has become a matter of national security"]

Certainly, for some countries and companies that want to take advantage of loopholes for profit, China has already taken precautions. China specifically mentioned "compliance" to prevent some people from importing rare earths under the guise of civilian use and then selling them to U.S. military companies.

Previously, there were reports that China had required India to commit not to transfer heavy rare earth magnets to the U.S., blocking the loophole of "saving the day indirectly."

On the same day that China announced the new export control policy, several Indian media outlets reported that Indian companies had "followed China's requirements" to ensure that rare earths would not be exported to the U.S., in exchange for China resuming rare earth exports to India. Some Indian companies have already submitted "final user certificates" declaring that the rare earths imported from China will only be used to meet local needs.

As for Trump's threat to impose a 100% tariff on China, China responded by stating that its position on the tariff war has always been consistent: we do not want to fight, but we are not afraid of it either.

["Regarding the tariff war, China's position has always been consistent: we do not want to fight, but we are not afraid of it either"]

China pointed out that the U.S. statement is a typical case of "double standards." For a long time, the U.S. has implemented unilateral measures against China on products such as semiconductors. Especially since the September Sino-U.S. Madrid trade talks, the U.S. has introduced a series of new restrictions on China, including "adding multiple Chinese entities to the restricted list" and "ignoring China's concerns and goodwill and proceeding with the maritime Section 301 measures against China," seriously undermining the atmosphere of the Sino-U.S. trade talks.

"Maritime Section 301 measures" refer to the additional port fees specifically targeting Chinese ships, which will come into effect on October 14. Calculations indicate that this policy is equivalent to imposing an additional tariff of nearly 4% on China annually. For example, a ship carrying 10,000 containers would need to pay an additional $5 million per stop at a U.S. port.

China did not immediately announce a countermeasure against Trump's 100% tariff, which does not mean it will not do so in the future. Trump's threatened tariffs will take effect on November 1, and before that, the top-level officials of China and the U.S. may hold a meeting during the APEC Summit in South Korea.

In other words, even if the talks fail, it will still be timely to announce countermeasures, as China emphasized, "we do not want to fight, but we are not afraid of it either."

Trump clearly realized the severity of the issue. Initially, he strongly declared that "there was no need to meet with China," but now he has changed his stance, saying "we have not canceled the meeting plan with China" and "I am helping China, not hurting China." It is clear who is more urgent in this game.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7560561983217467914/

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