Beijing has suspended exports of certain rare earth minerals and magnets that are crucial for the world’s car, semiconductor and aerospace industries.
Beijing has suspended exports of certain rare earth minerals and magnets that are crucial for the world’s car, semiconductor and aerospace industries.
True, but this changes the world dynamic much more than we’d think.
Before China would sell materials and other countries would have factories to produce products from them.
Now, China can move the production into their own country, selling their products without the middleman, but still keep the prices up.
Factories shut down in the rest of the world and open in China. They now control the full product from material to the product sale.
I could be wrong but my impression was that this is how it already is for goods containing rare earths. That they are already manufactured largely in China and China exports them and that there’s no ban on finished products containing rare earths.