[[ The New York Times
As odd as it was for Western leaders to allow China to seize controlling shares of must-have materials, it is downright bizarre for them to assume the Chinese Communist Party wouldn’t use such leverage in any skirmish. Until recently, the Trump administration apparently didn’t think it would either:
“China’s skilful deployment of rare earth sanctions this spring was probably the key factor in forcing Washington to reverse its tariff rises on the country. They represent a new era of Chinese economic statecraft—evidence of a sanctions policy capable of pressuring not only small neighbours but also the world’s largest economy…
The new controls on exporting rare earth materials and magnets are different. In just a handful of weeks they threatened to shutter key factories across the auto industry—the largest manufacturing sector in most advanced economies. They also brought the US president to heel on his signature initiative: the trade war. The White House thought it had achieved escalation dominance. Its theory was that sky-high tariffs would be so costly that Beijing would have no hope but to negotiate. In fact, China’s leaders could swallow the political cost of tariffs. But Washington couldn’t ignore the loss of rare earth materials and its impact on auto companies.”
