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China has nearly 70% of market share in mining of rare earth elements (REE) and has nearly 100% market share in technology related to mining of REE.

Recently, Reuters reported:

China, the world's top processor of rare earths, banned the export of technology to make rare earth magnets on Thursday, adding it to a ban already in place on technology to extract and separate the critical materials.

Most assume that this was to counter US restrictions regarding semiconductors. Now that China has increased the pressure:

  1. Has any foreign media or politician made any comments on this issue?

  2. Has any country publicly outlined its plan on how it is going to deal with the restrictions of importing rare earth metals from China?

(Pardon if you find my wording awkward)

sfxedit
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  • What typically happens in such cases of strategic subsidies followed by export restrictions is that production of such materials increases in the rest of the world and the introduction of technologies for processing that new production also happens. The reverse pattern is already happening with semiconductors. Any gains from export restrictions are usually short-term. See https://politics.stackexchange.com/questions/41557/what-can-the-u-s-do-politically-if-china-decided-to-stop-exporting-rare-earth-m – Henry Dec 22 '23 at 14:29
  • Voting to close - As this is a Q and A platform for disseminating factual information, we don't encourage "predictions" (speculative opinions) as answers. Please edit and improve your question - for e.g. .. you can ask "Has any foreign media or politician made any comments on this issue?" - so that it is within our guidelines. Thanks. – sfxedit Dec 22 '23 at 17:09
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    It's worth noting that rare earths aren't actually rare, it's just that the chemical processes to refine them produce hazardous wastes that are ugly to deal with. China, with weak environmental protections, produces rare earths cheaply by polluting the local environment. In the West, hazardous waste must be dealt with and that drives up the price. So broadly, the answer is either some other country will accept the environmental costs, or the price of rare earths will go up, or someone will invent techniques to deal with the waste more efficiently. (or more likely a combination of the three) – codeMonkey Dec 22 '23 at 18:00
  • @sfxedit, HOW IS THIS SPECULATIVE? China's embargos on exporting rare earth metals has been the ongoing for months as has the western reaction! – JMS Dec 22 '23 at 18:01
  • @JMS I think there is a misunderstanding here because you perhaps do not understand English fluently? The question asks what predictions can be made regarding global reaction to this, (or in other words "tell me how the world is going to react"). Since such questions will only invite speculations as answers we do not allow it. That is why I also have offered a suggestion on how it can be re-written so that this question is acceptable here and can be answered. – sfxedit Dec 22 '23 at 18:20
  • @sfxedit, I understand the question was worded awkwardly, The facts are however the China embargo on rare earth metals against the west has been underway for months as has the Western response to that embargo. So it doesn't appear this question is calling for speculation regardless of the wording. – JMS Dec 22 '23 at 18:28
  • @JMS Yes, the issue is in how it is written. Qwerty is a new member here. And has been offered specific feedback on how to improve the question. He is being given an opportunity to learn and understand the community rules here. Let's be patient with him. If he doesn't respond, feel free to help by editing the question yourself, like F1Krazy did, (if you think Qwerty didn't understand me). No question here is a matter of life and death, so it doesn't really matter if this question is published today or later. What matters to the community is good questions and answers. – sfxedit Dec 22 '23 at 18:48
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    @sfxedit I am positive regarding healthy criticism, and I have done the corrections, regarding English I am a beginner it's not my mother tongue. Thanks for help. – Qwerty Dec 22 '23 at 18:55
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    Thanks for accepting the criticism graciously. Since you are not an English speaker, I have edited your question to help you, and requested reopening the question - others will decide now. Note though that since this is an English only platform, not everyone will spend time trying to understand your question. So you will have to be patient, and have to improve your English to participate here. – sfxedit Dec 22 '23 at 19:42
  • The question has been much improved. Could it additionally specify what "recently" means? Or give the month and the year of "on Thursday"? – NoDataDumpNoContribution Dec 22 '23 at 20:20
  • Maybe some more foreign investment should be made in the Steenkampskraal mine in the WC, that is if South Africa can get the bone idle Capetonians to produce something worthwhile for a change. – Neil Meyer Dec 23 '23 at 10:53

1 Answers1

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Question:

How will the world react to China banning the export of rare earth magnet technology?

CNN's September 22, 2023 China just stopped exporting two minerals the world’s chipmakers need (namely, gallium and germanium)

How is the world responding?

  1. Most countries have reserves of rare earths for such occasions
  2. Many countries like the United States are re-starting domestic rare earth production facilities and have been for some time.
  1. Consumer costs have gone up.
  2. Western companies no longer see China as a trustworthy partner. So Western investment and supply chains are moving away from China. Western firms shift investment from China to India as worries mount
  3. China itself is not only the largest producer of rare earth metals, they are also the largest importer. So this move to subvert the global marketplace will certainly hit China as hard as anybody else.
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