When Foreign Policy Meets Rare Earth Reality: Did Xi Really Miscalculate?

 Rare Earth Exchanges

Video: What are rare earth minerals? AP explains   "U.S. President Donald Trump has been making headlines this week as he spends time in Asia signing trade deals with different nations in many areas, including rare earth minerals. So what are they? (AP Video by Mike Householder)."

Highlights

• China’s export restrictions on rare earths function as data-gathering tools, mapping global demand and downstream dependencies rather than representing a strategic miscalculation.
• Despite U.S. tariffs and stockpiling efforts, China maintains 90% control of magnet alloy production while gray-channel exports through Vietnam and Myanmar sustain trade flows.
• Western allies remain unlikely to join anti-China coalitions due to their dependence on Chinese rare earth intermediates for EVs, turbines, and robotics manufacturing.

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In his Foreign Policy column(opens in a new tab), Carnegie Endowment fellow Alasdair Phillips-Robins argues that Chinese President Xi Jinping “may have miscalculated” by tightening export rules on rare earths, inadvertently handing U.S. President Donald Trump a strategic opening. The narrative is tidy, almost cinematic: Beijing overreaches, Washington rallies allies, and global markets reward American resilience. But the reality, when viewed through the hard geometry of the rare earth supply chain, is far less linear—and far more inconvenient for Western assumptions.

What's Inside" . . . More at the link above.

Trump says ‘we have a deal’ with China’s Xi Jinping — calls South Korea summit meeting ‘12’ out of 10

. . . "Many of the topics of discussion were known in advance after US and Chinese negotiators hammered out a “framework” understanding during discussions earlier this week in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

"Trump did not say whether the pending deal to transfer control of Tiktok to American owners was discussed or finalized during the talks, but did confirm that the status of Taiwan — which Xi longs to annex — was not discussed.

"The president added, however, that the leaders did talk about working together to end the Russia-Ukraine war." . . .