[Source/Observer Network, Zhang Jingjuan] The additional rare earth export control measures China implemented earlier this month struck a blow to the heart of America's military industry. While the American industry is "feeling the pain," the U.S. government is also in a panic. Last week, U.S. President Trump, determined to break global rules, signed an executive order allowing seabed mining to counter China's influence in this field.
The recent report released by American defense intelligence company Govini analyzed the weaknesses in the U.S. defense supply chain, stating that over 1,900 key minerals for U.S. weapons systems depend on China.
The Hong Kong English-language media South China Morning Post noted on April 26th that this report pointed out that China's strengthened export controls on critical minerals may impact more than three-quarters of America's weapons supply chain.
Researchers at Govini found that 80,000 weapon components use antimony, gallium, germanium, tungsten, or tellurium in their manufacture, and China dominates the global supply of these minerals. This means that nearly 78% of Pentagon weapon systems could be affected.
The report points out that China's recent export bans and restrictions on critical minerals reveal an open secret: despite political rhetoric, important parts of U.S. weapon systems rely heavily on China.
Screenshot of the tweet
In order to safeguard national security and interests, China's export control measures continue to escalate.
In July 2023, the Ministry of Commerce and General Administration of Customs jointly issued an announcement implementing export control on gallium and germanium-related items. In August 2024, the two departments jointly announced a decision to implement export control on some antimony and superhard material-related items.
This February, the two departments jointly issued an announcement implementing export control on tungsten, tellurium, bismuth, molybdenum, indium, and related items, applying export control to 25 rare metal products and their technologies such as ammonium paratungstate.
The report states that the above materials are crucial for the manufacturing of equipment for all branches of the U.S. military. 61.7% of Marine Corps weapons and 91.6% of Navy weapons require these materials. Over the past 15 years, the average annual increase in the usage of five of the controlled minerals in U.S. weapons has been 23.2%.
The report lists some key components, including the indium antimonide focal plane arrays used in F-35s, AN/SPY-6 radars using gallium nitride materials, high-purity germanium detectors, infrared optical systems for Javelin anti-tank missiles using germanium, tungsten alloy armor-piercing rounds, and RQ-21A Blackjack drones using tellurium.
Govini analyzed the entire production process of 1,900 weapon systems and found that China dominates the supply chain, with percentages ranging from 82.4% for germanium to 91.2% for tellurium.
The report states that only 19% of the antimony needed for U.S. weapons systems can be obtained outside of China.
"This severe reliance on China's refined antimony not only makes key defense supply chains vulnerable to potential political and economic leverage but may also drive up costs and delay the production cycles of U.S. military equipment," the report notes.
Govini suggests increasing domestic production capacity and significantly expanding strategic reserves to cope with China's challenge.
The report points out that China also controls more than 90% of the global production capacity of another 17 rare earth elements, which are crucial for producing a range of equipment including aerospace technology and weapons.
Important rare metals gallium (left) and antimony
China is the world's largest producer and exporter of rare earths. At the beginning of this month, just two days after the Trump administration announced "reciprocal tariffs" on Chinese goods, China introduced a series of precise countermeasures, including additional tariffs. Seven categories of heavy rare earth-related items, including samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium, and yttrium, were included in the new batch of export control lists against the U.S. This restricts U.S. access to key rare earth materials used in missile production, batteries, and semiconductors.
Bloomberg reports that "currently, the U.S. has zero refining capability for these seven types of heavy rare earths and is entirely dependent on imports."
In recent years, some Western countries, including the U.S., have been constantly seeking and building new rare earth supply chains in an attempt to reduce dependence on China for critical strategic materials.
However, The Washington Post reported that establishing a new supply chain is both cumbersome and costly, and China has unparalleled advantages in terms of scale and completeness of the rare earth industry; other countries find it difficult to replicate the "Chinese model." Artaus, CEO of Cove Capital, an Australian mining project investment and operator, stated that it would take at least 10 to 15 years to fully establish a strong supply chain independent of China.
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Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7497915714322612774/
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