this post was submitted on 07 Apr 2025
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353
China Just Turned Off U.S. Supplies Of Minerals Critical For Defense & Cleantech (cleantechnica.com)
submitted 13 hours ago by floofloof@lemmy.ca to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] huppakee@lemm.ee 5 points 2 hours ago

Luckily Europe is one step ahead:

Access to clean energy and rare earths is critical for the EU as it seeks to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 and boost its autonomy in strategic sectors.

But sizeable shares of the global mining, processing and recycling of some of the critical raw materials, like lithium, that are indispensable to the development of renewable energy, everyday items as well as defence systems, are controlled by China, from which the EU wants to 'decouple' due to its aggressive and protectionist trade and foreign policy practices.

Central Asia holds large deposits, including 38.6% of the world's manganese ore, 30.07% of chromium, 20% of lead, 12.6% of zinc, and 8.7% of titanium.

"These raw materials are the lifeblood of the future global economy. Yet they are also a honeypot for global players. Some are only interested in exploiting and extracting," von der Leyen told Central Asian leaders.

"Europe's offer is different. We also want to be your partners in developing your local industries. The added value has to be local. Our track record speaks for itself," she added.

https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/04/04/eu-seals-new-central-asia-partnership-deal-as-debut-samarkand-summit-ends

[–] nyan@lemmy.cafe 35 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

There are alternative sources for these . . . but the US has pissed all of those countries off too.

[–] IllNess@infosec.pub 23 points 6 hours ago

Don't worry. Russia is willing to work with Trump and Trump can say that Russia is its only ally.

[–] MrAlternateTape@lemm.ee 85 points 8 hours ago (4 children)

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

The US have a shitstorm coming. That's what you get when you let a toddler play with the control knobs of the country.

Another very interesting point is how China made themselves so powerful. Anything with electronics needs some sort of resource from China. China is a very big and powerful player.

We should wonder if we want t be this dependant on one country for all our tech needs. I think the answer is no....

[–] jaxxed@lemmy.ml 17 points 6 hours ago

What's funnier is that the Americans could have dropped Chinese raw materials if they had built a collaboration before tariffing China, but the current Government have only one tactic: try to bully everyone at once. They really did make their own mess.

[–] ansiz@lemmy.world 24 points 8 hours ago

This is all just Japan from the 80s all over again. There are a bunch of movies from the period with Japan as the bogeyman. The peak probably being the backstory of Die Hard.

The key difference this time is the USA was paying for Japan's defense, had a massive military base, etc. China doesn't have that problem, so they can counter American demands with their own demands.

Interestingly, look at interviews with Trump from the 80s, he'll talk about Japan almost with the same language that he uses for China now. The most famous was probably an appearance of Trump on Oprah.

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 15 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (1 children)

The anti globalists were calling it 40 years ago and for some stupid reason it's a freaking fascist who is destroying the system that the left was fighting against back then!

[–] phdepressed@sh.itjust.works 6 points 7 hours ago

Even liberals have been saying that now in modern times. Isolationism is a prime Republican message for a reason.

The line must go up so lobbying+no spines has ensured we haven't do anything about it. There have been are a couple rare earth mines here in the US but it hasn't been profitable and has been heavily subsidized. We needed some other source ready before doing something like this and we don't have it. So it's just stupid.

[–] humanspiral@lemmy.ca 4 points 7 hours ago

We should wonder if we want t be this dependant on one country for all our tech needs. I think the answer is no…

It's also by far the biggest market for those materials, and a massive scale industry there. The IRA did incentivize local supply chains for many materials, but the high ROI scarcity model in US, had many announced projects cancelled, and new administration's love for fossil fuels and funding sources for tax cuts for the rich, threaten other projects. The reason projects were cancelled is that price, even after subsidy, would be horribly uncompetitive relative to China, and includes further uncompetitive processing industry requirements, that aren't usually the same expertise as a mining operation.

trade dependence is bad

is something you can say only when global peace is impossible, but also when your country is the one that fully decides global peace or war. War is not a path for shared prosperity. Trade dependence can be very prosperous (PPP GDP is far more important measure than nominal). Markets usually function because sellers are not forced to hate buyers, instead of trying to usually be their friend.

Far crazier than OP high tech industry suicide, is food and apparel. 1930s Smoot-Harley tariffs didn't just amplify great depression, they directly led to global famine. Farming bankruptcies and low global trade means planting less, if surplus can't be sold anywhere. No one will import avocados or apparel this week, and that has a bigger short term impact on lives.

[–] sundrei@lemmy.sdf.org 47 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

Looks like coal's back on the menu, boys! (Ugh.)

[–] IHeartBadCode@fedia.io 34 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Ha ha, but for real. They'll just turn people's power off, tell them to ration, and/or jack the price per kWh to 500% what it was.

Team Orange let's no good calamity go to waste. Everything is potential profit if you have no moral compass.

[–] nodiratime@lemmy.world 17 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

It's interesting to see that the circle of profiteers gets smaller and smaller each iteration, since everybody else is losing footing in the process.

[–] Alloi@lemmy.world 8 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

less competition

[–] thisbenzingring@lemmy.sdf.org 14 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

capitalism as predicted by Jack Lennon in the book that inspired 1984

The Iron Heel

[–] humanspiral@lemmy.ca 5 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Iron_Heel

The main premise of the book is the rise of a socialist mass movement in the United States – strong enough to have a real chance of winning national elections, getting to power, and implementing a radical socialist regime. Conservatives feel alarmed and threatened by this prospect, to the point of seizing power and establishing a brutal dictatorship in order to avert it.

It also inspired the national socialist party of Germany to "redefine socialism" as fascist oligarchism.

[–] Alphane_Moon@lemmy.world 4 points 6 hours ago

I am surprised I've never heard of this book. Will need to check it out.