China’s ‘Chokehold’ About critical minerals has created ‘Life or death material for the 21st century’, experts tell legislators
In a hearing on Tuesday at Capitol Hill, experts warned a dual group of legislators in the House of the Foreign Affairs that Choke’s Chokehold has become the “Life or death part” of this century about critical minerals.
The export restrictions of China on minerals that are crucial for technology, defense, car manufacturing and the emerging artificial intelligence industry have led to enormous concern in the US, but with international leaders, as depends on Beijing in the midst of the trade war with Washington, has become abundantly clear.
According to California Democratic Rep. Young Kim controls China 92% of the world processing of rare earth materials and dominates “the production of battery and magnetic components.”
US President Donald Trump runs away from a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the G20 Leaders Summit in Osaka, Japan, 29 June 2019. (Kevin Lamarque / File Photo / Reuters)
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Likewise, Frank Fannon, director of Fannon Global Advisors, with legislators on the subcommittee of the House in East Asia and the Pacific that “China controls the most critical minerals that underlie defense and weapon systems, energy technologies and the building blocks for the modern economy.”
“Although America has a considerable means, the US is 100% import-dependent from almost a quarter of the 50 critical minerals, and more than 50% dependent on 29 of them,” he added.
Legislers insisted on the experts on how the US can best combat the increasingly threatening situation that is not only increasing economic care, but also a matter of national security.
“[We’ve] I had to produce, “said Joseph Manchin, a former Democratic senator from West Virginia who became independent in 2024, Tuesday.
Cchin, who comes from the second largest coal mine in the country, argued that the problem lies not only in the fact that the US not only stopped trying to meet its own needs with the introduction of mass international deals in the 90s, but it also did not lean on the right partners abroad.
“We have allies that we can trust,” he said, pointing to both Canada and Australia, who have “huge caches” of rare earth materials. “And then you are able to refine South Korea and Japan.”
“We have the building blocks there … to get into the game very quickly,” he added.
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Jose Fernandez, formerly under secretary for economic growth, energy and the environment with the US Department of Foreign Affairs, pointed out that it takes up to 20 years to get a mine fully functional.
“We cannot continue to work this way,” he said, and emphasized that the US should look at the threat of China for its supply chains holistically and in the short and long term. “It’s all the above, and they are all hands on deck.”
The experts were also put under pressure on rates, especially in the midst of the worldwide tariff splashes of Trump.
Manchin argued that rates can be a great tool and should be used as “guardrails” to protect the industry against China that undermines the critical mineral market.
Fernandez echoed this sentiment, but warned against the excessive use of rates.
“If we don’t have the minerals in our country … it doesn’t work well,” Fernandez told the legislators. “But in the case of minerals we have, I think rates are one of the tools that we have in our toolbox.”
Ultimately, the experts warned that the US must now make major changes in how it regards mining at home, tackles trade agreements abroad and tackles the always present “bottom line” by combating cheaper rates and persuing shareholders not to invest in Chinese companies.
A rare earth mine in Bayan Obo, a mining city in the inner Mongolia in China. The mines north of the city are among the biggest deposits of rare earth metals found in the world. (Bert van Dijk, Getty Images / Getty images)
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“It has become the American way, which is not beneficial at the moment. In short, everything is a return on investment,” Warned Manchin. “If we don’t get into a game fairly quickly, and we don’t look beyond the Bottom Line – if we had done that during the Second World War, we would never have won it – and we are now in the same situation.
“It’s a life or death of the 21st century.”
