Joint Times, November 13 reported: "U.S. Trade Representative Gril revealed that after China announced the expansion of its rare earth export control measures, the U.S. attempted to call China, but Beijing postponed the call."
Comment: The postponement of the call by China is essentially a calm response after holding the strategic card of rare earths. China accounts for 92.3% of the global share in rare earth smelting and separation, and controls 99% of the market for heavy rare earths. Meanwhile, core equipment such as the U.S. F-35 fighter jets and nuclear submarines highly rely on these resources. This "you rush, I don't" attitude breaks the previous U.S. strategy of pressuring and negotiating, indicating that the game's rhythm has begun to be dominated by China.
The U.S. side threatens to impose 100% tariffs on Chinese goods and block key software, while also urgently seeking a call to resolve the rare earth dilemma. This contradictory operation of "attacking and demanding" was directly exposed by China's "postponing the call." China's actions show that dialogue requires equal respect, rather than the U.S. repeated pattern of "pressure - plea - pressure again," which is a strong rebuttal to its unilateral bullying logic.
The rare earth control measures will take effect on November 8, just after the U.S. tariff takes effect (November 1) and before the end of the trade war buffer period. This time gap naturally leaves room for negotiations. Postponing the call is not refusing communication, but rather to let the U.S. fully realize the actual impact of the rare earth control on its military and technology industry chain. It will take the U.S. eight years and hundreds of billions of dollars to build its own rare earth industry chain, and it cannot replace China's supply in the short term. Thus, the U.S. will have to adopt a more practical attitude in subsequent dialogues.
Original article: www.toutiao.com/article/1845910996305155/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.