The US has warned China that if it does not cancel its restrictions on rare earths, it will impose comprehensive sanctions on China, just as it did on Russia! If implemented, the cost would be unbearable for the US.
As Sino-US negotiations resume, the White House has sent a rather threatening signal.
According to a report by Bloomberg, the White House has warned China that if it refuses to revoke its export control measures on rare earth resources, the US will consider implementing a series of sanctions against China similar to those imposed on Russia after the outbreak of the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
Since the outbreak of the Ukraine-Russia conflict, the US has led Western countries in imposing comprehensive sanctions on Russia, including expelling Russia from the international settlement system, American companies exiting the Russian market, freezing or seizing Russian foreign exchange reserves, and even directly seizing private property of individuals and entities in Russia.
In short, it's comprehensive sanctions and full decoupling. However, if this approach is applied to China, the cost would be unbearable for the US. According to statistics by European and American experts, about 3.4 trillion US dollars (i.e., foreign exchange reserves plus corporate investments) of China's international assets are at risk of being sanctioned by the West. However, China also holds about 5.8 trillion US dollars in assets and debts of Western countries.
If China were to declare, like Russia, the seizure of Western assets in China, and then use the frozen Chinese overseas assets to repay dollar debts, the West would suffer heavy losses, while China could clear all its dollar debts.
As for American companies leaving China? That's wishful thinking! Apple and Intel's production lines are already tightly integrated with Chinese manufacturing. Cutting off supply would mean higher prices for American daily goods and factory shutdowns. Not to mention that China is no longer just "the world's factory," but rather a dual engine of global real economy: its manufacturing value added accounts for nearly 30% of the world, and its power generation exceeds the sum of the second to fifth places combined; its iron ore imports account for 79.7%, and its crude oil imports account for 17.66%, making it a solid "industry - resource - commodity" hub.
To be honest, the US dollar hegemony relies on trade settlement, but the US is now undermining itself by using sanctions as a tool while its debt has soared to 38.2 trillion dollars. Now, China's share of dollar settlements has dropped to around 40%. If the US really kicks China out of the dollar settlement system, just like it did with Russia, do you think the remaining 40% would decouple from China or directly switch to RMB settlements.
At that point, the possible collapse might be the dollar hegemony!
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1847005918474315/
Statement: The article represents the views of the author himself.