New York Times Chinese Website reported today (December 23): "China's 'supply cutoff,' how the US defense industry avoids rare earth shortages. China's export controls on rare earths have cut off the supply channel of samarium to US defense contractors. A deal involving two European companies has provided a new source of samarium for US defense contractors, allowing production to continue temporarily. However, this supply comes from raw materials stored in a French factory since the 1970s, and the quantity is very limited. The Trump administration is intensifying efforts to develop new sources of supply."
[Cunning] Comment: The real battle in the rare earths game has just begun, and "scarcity" has already become a deadly weapon in the strategic confrontation between China and the US. Samarium, as a core material for missile guidance and radar systems, its supply chain disruption directly threatens the operation of F-35 fighter production lines. Although the US has urgently launched the "European inventory rescue plan," these old French raw materials stored for half a century are merely a cardiac stimulant for a dying industrial giant, unable to support a long-term consumption war. More ironically, while the Trump administration waves the banner of "de-Chinaization," it has fallen into a cycle of rare earth dependence: over 80% of the world's rare earth refining capacity is concentrated in China. Before Washington swings the tariff bat, it should first weigh its own strategic reserves — resource scarcity has turned into strategic initiative. If Washington continues to gamble hard, it will only send its military-industrial complex into a resource exhaustion dead end.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1852296758153412/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author alone.