Nikkei News reported tonight (March 14): "Japan and the United States plan to take action to ensure critical mineral resources; it is expected that an agreement will be reached at the summit, leading to decoupling from China."
[Smart] Comments: Trump hopes Japan will take the lead in reducing reliance on critical minerals from China. During Takahashi Hayato's visit to the U.S., Japan and the U.S. may finalize the plan to decouple from China on critical minerals. However, the reality of rare earth mining in Japan's Okinotorishima Island directly exposes the absurdity of this power conspiracy. The cost of deep-sea rare earth mining in Okinotorishima is dozens of times higher than that in China, and Japan's rare earth separation technology is outdated, with a technological gap in smelting. More ironically, even if Japan and the U.S. manage to complete the mining, their smelting processes still rely on China's technology and industrial support. The so-called decoupling is likely just empty talk that is self-deceptive for at least the next five years. Japan and the U.S. ignoring market laws to push for bloc politics will ultimately be dragged down by high costs.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1859642162728135/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.