Trump is now trying to scare China, passing an order to mine rare earth in deep sea. That must be the mother of all rhetorics, without thinking about the cost of doing it. Rare earths raw materials can be found in abundance on the earth's surface - with substantial reserves in Vietnam, Brazil, Russia and India, besides China. China dominates in reserves and processing which no other country can touch.
Yes, rare earth is not rare at all, and some Western sources are trying to spin the narrative that it is unfortunate for China that there are alternatives for countries to mine them. The problem runs further than mining them, with logistics processing them to make it into useful metals is all controlled by China. Further, there are environmental, and radiation factors involved, which some countries are least able to set up mines without running into opposition.
So, what if the USA can mine them in the deep sea. Are there processing logistics set up in the USA already to process them, or are those ideas just plucked from thin air. When will such mining work start when the USA military industrial complex, semiconductor makers, EV makers are waiting anxiously for their supplies in the face of China's ban? As a non-technical person, can I assume that processing such raw rare earth mined from the bottom of the sea probably needs a different processing method, just like crude oil. It is not a case of one size fits all.
I believe this is another hot air being blown by Trump to fool the world and to distract attention to his other failures, but certainly not China. China has plenty of time to watch the clowning, while the USA continues to shoot its own foot.
Anonymous
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The USA tried mining rare earth in Mongolia and could not bypass the Chinese and Russian hurdle of how to get those raw materials out of land-locked Mongolia. China refused to allow its ports to be used for the ores to be shipped to Japan for refining. That killed the project altogether.
The USA tried to engage Vietnam to allow it to exploit the rare earth material in Vietnam and is still trying very hard to sway the Vietnamese to their side. Too bad, they showed the Vietnamese their negative side with Kamala Harris laying a wreath at John McCain's memorial site in Hanoi. This is an act adding insult to injury for Kamala Harris to pay respect to a war criminal in the eyes of the Vietnamese. The insensitivity was uncalled for and was a big mistake.
Now it looks like Trump's attempt to have access to Ukraine's mineral resources, including rare earth, is falling apart, with the Ukraine peace deal hanging in the balance.
With no other choice, Trump is betting on mining rare earth from the deep ocean that I believe no one else has done yet. When that fails, maybe Trump will gloat about mining on the moon, or even Mars, LOL. Talk about building castle's in the air!
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