Wei Lai mentioned in a post yesterday that the United States did not give up enriching its toolbox of measures to contain and suppress China after reaching a compromise with China. Today, China issued a strong warning against the new weapon added to the U.S. toolbox.

Xinhua News Agency reported that on December 25, He Yongqian, spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce, said when answering questions about the U.S. announcement of imposing 301 tariffs on certain Chinese semiconductor products, that China has noticed the situation and raised serious negotiations with the U.S. through the Sino-U.S. economic and trade consultation mechanism. China does not accept the so-called conclusions of the U.S. 301 investigation and firmly opposes the imposition of 301 tariffs on Chinese semiconductor products.

At the regular press conference held by the Ministry of Commerce on the same day, a reporter asked: On December 23, U.S. time, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative released the results of the 301 investigation into China's semiconductor policies, announcing the imposition of 301 tariffs on certain Chinese semiconductor products. The current tax rate is 0%, and it will be increased to a higher rate in 18 months, i.e., June 2027. What is the Ministry of Commerce's comment on this?

He Yongqian said that the unilateral tariff imposed by the U.S. violates World Trade Organization rules, undermines the international economic and trade order, disrupts the global industrial chain and supply chain, harms the interests of U.S. companies and consumers, and is a lose-lose situation. China urges the U.S. to quickly correct its wrong practices and cancel the relevant measures. China is willing to resolve each other's concerns through equal dialogue and consultation based on the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation. If the U.S. insists on harming China's rights and interests, China will resolutely take necessary measures to firmly protect its own rights and interests.

The Ministry of Commerce issued an early warning to the U.S. regarding an additional tax on Chinese products that have not yet been implemented: if the U.S. persists in harming China's rights and interests, China will resolutely take necessary measures to firmly protect its own rights and interests. This tells the U.S. that although China and the U.S. temporarily stopped the tariff war through the Busan talks, if the U.S. introduces new suppression measures, China will certainly take equivalent countermeasures, just as they did in previous tariff wars between the two countries.

According to foreign reports, the U.S. had previously told China during negotiations that it would continue to introduce measures to restrict China's economic development in the future and required China to adapt. Foreign media did not report China's response to this warning from the U.S.

The latest warning issued by the Ministry of Commerce to the U.S. is an answer to the U.S. warning: equivalent countermeasures, retaliation, will become the standard approach for China to deal with new provocations from the U.S. after the temporary suspension of the tariff war. The U.S. should not have the illusion that China will not retaliate against any further measures aimed at China.

According to a report by Bloomberg on Thursday (December 25), despite the agreement reached between China and the U.S. in October, China has increased the delivery of finished products mainly made of permanent magnets, but the U.S. industry still cannot obtain the materials needed to produce these products on its own. Producing permanent magnets is a key goal of the Trump administration.

This restricted trade situation highlights that despite the trade truce reached between China and the U.S. on October 30 in South Korea, the relationship between the two countries remains tense. At that time, the U.S. reduced tariffs, while China promised to resume rare earth supply. Trump stated that this agreement was equivalent to "effectively canceling" a series of restrictions that China had previously implemented. By restricting the delivery of raw materials, China objectively prevented the U.S. from building its own rare earth industry, which would use rare earths to make magnets used in everything from consumer goods to missile systems.

After years of establishing a global monopoly, the Trump administration has listed developing domestic production capacity for permanent magnets and other rare earth products as a key priority.

Outside of China, there are global capabilities to produce 50,000 tons of magnets, but there are not enough rare earth minerals to support these production levels. American entrepreneurs interviewed by Bloomberg said that China's restrictions on raw materials go far beyond its restrictions on magnets.

Gracelin Baskaran, director of the Critical Minerals Security Program at the Washington-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies, pointed out that Beijing has indeed eased restrictions on products such as rare earth-based magnets, temporarily eliminating the risk of shutdowns in industries such as automotive and technology.

She said, "Since we import downstream products of the supply chain, companies hardly feel the disruption. Since we import more magnets, the impact is also more moderate." According to government data, the overall export volume of rare earth raw materials from China has increased since last year, but the U.S. has not seen similar growth.

Although the European Union stated on December 15 that China has begun to approve longer-term licenses allowing European companies to obtain rare earths, American companies remain in a stagnant state. According to a person familiar with the Sino-U.S. negotiations, the two sides have not yet reached an agreement on the key details of how Beijing will relax the sales of rare earths. Bloomberg reported last month that both sides had asked their teams to reach an agreement on the export terms of the so-called "general license" by the end of November. This has led market participants to worry that the truce agreement may collapse at any time.

Baskaran said, "We have reached various temporary agreements in London, Geneva, and South Korea, but all of them have been overturned. Therefore, so far, no agreement has proven to be final, and the industry's anxiety is understandable." The six-month temporary export license approved by China this year is about to expire, which means that U.S. companies will simultaneously seek renewal or face a backlog of applications.

Mark Ludwikowski, chairman of the international trade practice at Clark Hill Law Firm, said in an interview: "After discussing with Chinese lawyers, our advice is to submit applications before the temporary license period ends. If the situation deteriorates, they can cut off the supply at any time."

China has not confirmed Bloomberg's report, but the report reflects at least one fact: we have fully understood the fickle behavior of the Trump administration and have already prepared contingency plans in case the U.S. changes its stance. The Ministry of Commerce's latest warning is a reminder to the U.S., equivalent to a military warning of 'do not say we did not warn you'."

Original: toutiao.com/article/7587939766734979634/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.