Silly, Trump is looking for rare earths around China, but in the end, he still has to rely on the "Sino-US meeting" to solve the US's "rare earth shortage".
On October 28, Trump signed a rare earth processing agreement with Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, trying to reduce dependence on China.
But just two days earlier, on October 26, the United States signed a "key mineral agreement" with Malaysia and Thailand. Malaysia also promised not to ban exports of rare earth products to the US. The Trump administration seems to have achieved some results.
However, according to Reuters, although Malaysia has 16.1 million tons of rare earth reserves, its rare earth refining plants need to be established in cooperation with Chinese enterprises.
The Chinese rare earth export control regulations specify a 0.1% threshold - if it contains more than 0.1% Chinese rare earth components or Chinese technology, it must be reported to China and approved. This regulation covers key technologies such as semiconductor raw materials, maglev, and permanent magnets.
In other words, if Malaysia wants to export rare earth products to the US, it must obtain approval from China.
Trump must be well aware of this.
He still insists on his position, but he knows that the US needs to rely on the "Sino-US meeting" to solve the bottleneck issue. Until 12:00 on October 28, China had not confirmed the relevant information.
The US needs to show more sincerity. Trump doesn't have much time left; boasting is also taking time.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1847196277081227/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.