China took action on October 9, issuing six consecutive announcements to strengthen the export control of a series of key items. Among these, four announcements are related to rare earths, namely No. 56, 57, 61, and 62. It can be said that this time we have tightened the钳子 (pincers) around America's neck once again.

China has found a way to use the restriction of the export of rare earth-related items to choke America, and it worked well: in the past few months, the American government has repeatedly asked China to relax the export of rare earth-related items in exchange for concessions from America in certain areas.

However, the US government is trying to create new leverage for itself. Starting on October 14, it will charge hefty fees for Chinese-made commercial ships and commercial ships operated by Chinese companies docking at US ports, in an effort to strike China's shipbuilding industry. In response, China did not hesitate to retaliate.

(Controlling the export of rare earth elements and related items is one of the most powerful levers in China's hand.)

Announcement No. 56 mainly implements export controls on some rare earth equipment and raw materials. As is well known, China monopolizes the global supply of rare earths. In fact, only a portion of rare earth elements rely on China's natural resources for their monopoly. The real reason for China's dominance in the global rare earth supply is its advanced refining technology and the scale advantage of the rare earth industry chain.

After the United States realized that we were using this advantage to negotiate with them, it tried to take advantage of some regulatory loopholes in China to purchase rare earth refining equipment and raw materials, establishing a rare earth refining industry chain overseas. Announcement No. 56 was aimed at closing this regulatory loophole, leaving the United States without options. If you want technology and equipment, you have to develop it yourself!

(A rare earth mine in the United States. The United States lacks the equipment and technology for rare earth refining.)

Announcement No. 57 mainly implements export controls on certain medium and heavy rare earth-related items, expanding the original scope of control. These medium and heavy rare earths are crucial for manufacturing various high-performance alloy targets, permanent magnets, crystals, magnetic refrigeration materials, optical fibers, ceramics, and luminescent materials, which will affect the production of a series of military and civilian high-tech products and components. This is another heavy blow to the US and Western countries.

Announcement No. 62 mainly implements export controls on technologies and carriers related to rare earth mining, smelting and separation, metal smelting, magnet material manufacturing, and the recycling and utilization of secondary rare earth resources. This is a supplement to Announcement No. 56, especially strictly controlling the technologies and carriers for the recycling and utilization of secondary rare earth resources. Since rare earth materials have been widely used for decades, a large amount of rare earth materials have accumulated in discarded equipment that can be recycled. Recently, one of the main efforts of the United States has been to try to establish a rare earth material recycling and utilization industry chain, and we have closed this loophole as well.

(ASML in its homepage explicitly mentions the use of rare earth magnets.)

Announcement No. 61 is placed last because it is particularly interesting. This announcement expands the scope of China's controls, extending our control measures overseas. The core points are two: first, any organization or individual abroad must obtain an export license for dual-use items issued by the Ministry of Commerce of China when exporting any product containing Chinese rare earth-related items to other countries and regions outside of China;

Second, if a foreign entity sells products produced abroad, and the value of Chinese rare earth materials in the product is 0.1% or more, it must obtain an export license from the Ministry of Commerce of China. For many foreign entities, this will be a big trouble.

For example, ASML's lithography machines contain more than 0.1% of Chinese rare earth materials. If they are exported to any country or region outside of China, they must obtain approval from China.

Announcement No. 61 specifically mentions that export applications for end uses such as research and development, production of logic chips with 14 nanometers or less, or storage chips with 256 layers or more, as well as the production equipment, testing equipment, and materials for the above process, or the research and development of artificial intelligence with potential military applications, will be subject to case-by-case review.

If any country or company dares to violate this ban, they will be choked. They need to understand that China has undeniable control over the smelting of rare earths, especially heavy rare earths.

These measures are a response to America's technological hegemony: America has announced that any chip equipment containing 10% of American components must apply to the US Department of Commerce for export to China. Then, we have stipulated that any product containing 0.1% of Chinese rare earths must apply to the Ministry of Commerce of China.

(ASML's lithography machine)

Announcements No. 61 and 62 also have another interesting point: on the official website of the Ministry of Commerce of China, under the page of announcements, there are download links for key documents such as the list of items and the guide for filling out "Explanation of the Provision of Export-Controlled Technologies within the Country." However, these documents are all in the domestic WPS format.

Imagine how American companies would feel when they cannot open these documents using Microsoft Office. You Americans think your office software dominates the world, don't you? Then use our office software; you Americans think your cultural hegemony is invincible worldwide? Then we require that applications submitted to the Ministry of Commerce must be written in Chinese.

Announcement No. 61 completely closes one door and opens another. The door that is completely closed is: export applications to foreign military users, as well as those to importers and end-users listed on the controlled exports list and the watch list (including their subsidiaries, branches, etc., with a holding of 50% or more), will generally not be approved.

The opened port is: for export applications whose final use is emergency medical care, responding to public health emergencies, disaster relief, and other humanitarian relief, the licensing requirement is exempted. These two measures fully demonstrate China's determination and the principle of humanitarianism it upholds. This completely silences Europe and the United States, leaving them unable to respond.

The rare earth control measures introduced by China this time resonate with the export control of seven heavy rare earth elements and magnets in April of this year, precisely targeting the most vulnerable parts of the US military-industrial complex. At the same time, it forms an effective deterrent against the industrial chains of high-tech equipment and components that rely on rare earth elements, such as semiconductors. These measures will become a powerful lever for China to further engage in trade wars and technological battles with the United States. Whether it hurts or not, we will know after seeing the US's reaction.

Original text: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7559484205827211776/

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