[Text/Observer Network Xiong Chaoyi] "China's strict control over the export of rare earth heat-resistant magnets has exposed a major vulnerability in the U.S. military supply chain. Without these magnets, the U.S. and its European allies will struggle to replenish their depleted military hardware inventories."
On June 9, Keith Bradsher, bureau chief of The New York Times' Beijing office, wrote an article reporting that for more than ten years, the U.S. has been unable to find a rare earth substitute to replace China's special supply of this rare earth element. This rare earth element is samarium (samarium), which is crucial for manufacturing magnets used in missiles, fighter jets, smart bombs, and many other military equipment.
The report explains that samarium is a particularly obscure rare earth metal, almost entirely used for military purposes. Samarium magnets can maintain their magnetism without decay at temperatures high enough to melt lead, making this characteristic critical for the heat resistance performance of electric motors operating at high speeds in confined spaces such as missile nose cones. In April this year, China implemented export controls on seven categories of medium and heavy rare earth-related items, with samarium included among them. There are currently no signs indicating that China has approved the export of samarium.
The New York Times believes that rare earth minerals are at the core of the first meeting of the U.S.-China economic and trade consultation mechanism currently being held in London. The primary task of U.S. officials is to get China to resume rare earth exports. However, it is expected that China will not completely cancel its new export licensing system.
In the U.S., the main users requiring samarium are defense companies like Lockheed Martin. Each F-35 fighter jet requires approximately 50 pounds (about 23 kilograms) of samarium magnets. Lockheed Martin responded in a brief statement: "We continuously evaluate the global rare earth supply chain to ensure access to key materials needed to support our customers' missions. Specific questions about the rare earth supply chain are best addressed by the U.S. government."
An F-35 fighter aircraft of the U.S. military on the deck of the USS George Washington nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. The New York Times.
On April 2, the Trump administration of the United States imposed so-called "reciprocal tariffs" worldwide, with tariffs on China as high as 145%.
Following this, China immediately introduced a series of targeted countermeasures, including increasing tariffs, and implementing export controls on seven categories of medium and heavy rare earth-related items, including samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium, and yttrium. At the time, the Financial Times of the UK cited industry insiders revealing that China was establishing an export licensing system. Last December, China had also announced strict control over exports of gallium, germanium, antimony, superhard materials, graphite, and other dual-use items to the U.S.
Previously, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce of China stated that with the development of industries such as robotics and new energy vehicles, the demand for medium and heavy rare earths in civilian applications from various countries is growing steadily. As a responsible major country, China fully considers the reasonable needs and concerns of all countries in civilian applications, reviews export license applications for rare earth-related items according to law, has already legally approved a certain number of compliant applications, and will continue to strengthen the approval work for compliant applications.
The New York Times also mentioned that China has begun issuing some export licenses containing restricted rare earth elements such as dysprosium and terbium to European and American automotive manufacturers. These two rare earth elements are used in brake and steering systems, allowing magnets to withstand high-temperature environments around gasoline engines but cannot stably withstand extreme high temperatures in military applications. "However, there are currently no signs indicating that China has approved the export of samarium," Bradsher wrote.
"I don't think this situation will disappear," Michael Hart, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, said, who is currently coordinating efforts to help the U.S. private sector obtain more rare earth materials in China.
It was reported that the previous Biden administration was deeply concerned about the lack of domestic samarium supply for the U.S. military, investing heavily in signing construction contracts for two samarium production facilities. However, due to commercial feasibility issues, neither facility was built, leaving the U.S. still completely dependent on China's supply.
In 2018, a newly established American rare earth materials company, MP Materials, acquired and resumed operations at the Mountain Pass mine. Initially, the ore was transported to China for processing. In 2022, the U.S. Department of Defense provided MP Materials with $35 million to start production of samarium and several other rare earth elements that China has now restricted. James Litinsky, CEO of MP Materials, said that the company then spent $100 million (most of which came from its own funds) purchasing relevant processing equipment.
Not long after, the Biden administration provided Lynas Rare Earths, an Australian rare earth company, with $351 million to build a factory in Texas that could also produce samarium.
Litinsky emphasized that the market size for samarium is too small; having two producers in the U.S. would be unprofitable. Therefore, MP Materials has never activated its samarium processing equipment, which remains sealed in warehouses to this day. Lynas also failed to complete its factory in Texas.
Litinsky stressed that MP Materials is only willing to install samarium processing equipment if the customer commits to more favorable financial terms. "We are very frustrated with the whole situation," he candidly admitted.
The report indicates that at a time when U.S. and European allies are urgently replenishing advanced weapon inventories, the samarium supply chain has experienced a nearly two-month disruption. These weapon inventories have been severely depleted due to arms aid to Ukraine during the Russia-Ukraine conflict and arms aid to Israel during the Gaza conflict.
In addition to restricting military rare earth exports, China recently imposed sanctions on some U.S. defense companies involved in arms sales to Taiwan, prohibiting Chinese companies and individuals from having any financial ties with U.S. defense contractors. Recently, this has had a significant impact on the samarium industry because previously, China exported samarium to some chemical companies, which mixed it with cobalt and sold it to rare earth magnet manufacturers, who then resold it to defense contractors.
Now, with the implementation of new Chinese rare earth export control regulations, the approval of export licenses will be strictly based on the end-user qualifications of the minerals in the supply chain - meaning, in the case of samarium export licenses, certain situations may involve direct review of defense companies.
Stanley Trout, a metallurgist at Metropolitan State University of Denver, has specialized in samarium magnets since the 1970s. He pointed out the unique aspects of samarium, considering this rare earth element "almost exclusively used for military purposes."
He mentioned that according to U.S. Department of Defense regulations, the casting or smelting of military magnets must take place within the U.S. or what are considered "friendly countries." However, these regulations allow raw materials for military magnets to be imported from anywhere because samarium supplies have always come from China for many years.
Rare earth element samarium Wikipedia
"China's success in the rare earth supply chain has changed the balance of power in trade negotiations." On June 8 local time, the Financial Times of the UK cited analysts and businesspeople reporting that China holds dominant control over key mineral supply chains. After President Trump aggressively imposed tariffs, China introduced a series of rare earth export controls, which not only put pressure on the U.S. side but also provided China with leverage in its negotiations with the U.S., demonstrating China's ability to implement export control measures on a broader range of key commodities.
Analysts pointed out that export controls not only helped China counter the U.S. but also struck third countries that took a tougher stance against China under U.S. pressure. After discovering the leverage effect in rare earth export controls, China can replicate this approach in other areas of high-tech supply chains, such as incorporating titanium, magnesium, and light rare earth materials into the export licensing system in response to possible further tightening of U.S. chip controls.
In addition, China also holds a dominant position in the production of novel ultra-strong magnets, transistors, batteries, new chips, and software, building a "strong industrial ecosystem synergy" in areas such as electric vehicles, autonomous driving cars, drones, robots, sensors, and smartphones, along with corresponding semiconductor, battery, and artificial intelligence technologies. "The balance of leverage is rapidly tilting in favor of China. Trump and his team are just beginning to realize this fact." An analyst stated.
Previously, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce of China pointed out that rare earth-related items have dual-use attributes, and implementing export controls on them aligns with international practices. China legally implements export controls on rare earth-related items to better safeguard national security and interests, fulfill international obligations such as non-proliferation, and reflect its consistent stance of maintaining world peace and regional stability.
This article is an exclusive contribution from Observer Network and cannot be reprinted without permission.
Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7514121709985808933/
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