"Rare Earth," China's Dead, Mineral Power to Earth Power

Over the years, the United States has widely cited the concept of national security and has also brought economic and technological issues into politics and weapons; the United States has adopted wrongful export control measures, arbitrarily restricted exports of related goods to China, and blacklisted many Chinese companies, as well as adopted coercive tariff measures; the act has seriously affected international trade rules.

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China counters U.S. tariff measures with controls on exports of commercially used rare earth minerals and national security. Rare Earth is China's dead pit in its trade war with the United States.

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The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that Chinese mining accounts for about 61 per cent of global output and nearly 92 per cent of rare earth minerals, which have undergone a process of refurbishment to make them available, all occur in China; the remaining some Australian companies operating in Malaysia are producers.

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China is a major producer of gallium ore (gallium), germanium, antimony) and other materials in the world, which is important in the production of advanced semiconductors and military equipment. The United States therefore needs to find alternatives in the world according to China's export controls. However, production in other countries is small, which means that prices will rise, production costs will increase, and production speeds will also decrease.

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Gallium is an important material in advanced semiconductor manufacturing. Germanium is widely used in optical fiber and solar cell communication systems. Antimony can be used to make semiconductor devices such as strong magnetic components. Ultra-hard materials play an important role in cutting, grinding and polishing processes in chip manufacturing.

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In addition, rare-earth mines operating in the United States, which have to deliver ore to China for processing, are facing reciprocal tariffs imposed by China. Although the United States has the option to import from Malaysia, it cannot import the required quantities. Malaysia also found that it is facing environmental problems from mineral processing.

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China has announced an increase in the list of mineral species in the export control of rare earth minerals, which will come into effect on November 8, 2025, and this new restriction, is severely threatening the defense supply chain of the United States and the technology industry.

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The United States was originally a major fuel supplier to China by about 80%, followed by Norway, Brazil and India, but when the United States intervened in trade between China and third countries, it forced China to step up its efforts to reduce its dependence on outside the country, both for resources and technology.

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Chinese media reported that the Zhengzhou Multi-Purpose Mineral Resources Institute has discovered quartz ore deposits with a volume of more than 35 million tons, particularly in eastern Qinling County, in central Henan Province, and Altai in northwestern China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

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The "high-purity quartz" refers to a rock that can be processed and purified to obtain silicon dioxide with a purity of not less than 99.995 percent.

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In 2020, China imports up to 144,500 tons of quartz, accounting for over 70% of global imports; most of these mineral deposits are in North Carolina in the United States, Nordland governorate in Norway, Kanti-Mansi Autonomous Region in Russia, Queensland in Australia, and Nuadybu Bay Province in Mauritania.

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Quartz is the main indispensable material for strategic emerging industries. Quartz mineral deposits are widely dispersed in nature, but the existence of mineral deposits capable of producing highly pure quartz is even rarer. With its distinctive characteristics, it is resistant to high temperatures, resistant to corrosion, expanding due to low heat, high electrical insulation and transparency.

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This discovery of new mineral deposits provided China with enough raw materials to drive strategic emerging industries such as semiconductor manufacturing, solar power, electrical, telecommunications and electronics industries, ending its dependence on Western technological production sources.

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April 2025, China's Ministry of Natural Resources, announces that high-purity quartz has been officially classified as China's 174th mineral in order to reduce its dependence on imports of staple materials used in strategic high-tech industries.

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China has been highly successful in exploring a large number of minerals such as copper, aluminum and iron, which has resulted in a huge increase in resource reserves. In particular, copper resources in China's southwestern Xifang Autonomous Region alone are also more than 100 million tons, which is expected to become a global source of copper resources.

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In addition, China's uranium ore resources were significantly increased by the discovery of 10 large uranium ore deposits, including an ultra-large uranium mine found in Jingchuan, Gansu Province, in northwestern China.

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China's great discovery of quartz, this time, was more than just a geological milestone, but a sign of a power shift in the global technological landscape and could affect the global raw material trade structure.

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Think about it: if your next smartphone, car sensors or even solar panels on the roof of a house are powered by raw materials that come from one country, the power of the world certainly belongs to that country.

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When Rare Earth is needed for modern technology, it is important for industries ranging from electronics and telecommunications to renewable energy, defense systems, and aerospace. Worldwide, more and more of these minerals are needed. A competition for minerals is emerging.

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China walks the Games dominating the supply chain market with huge investments in mining ventures, especially in Africa. China has always believed that Africa is not a "forgotten continent" but a "source of power" and a "land of development."

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The Chinese-led "New World Order" is being formed to counter the influence of Western nations led by the United States. Through the Belt and Road Initiative, launched in 2013, more than 200 agreements have been signed with more than 150 countries and 30 international organizations. The project helps expand China's access to resources, often in exchange for developing infrastructure linking mining areas to African ports such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa and Ghana.

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Africa holds about 30% of the world's major mineral deposits, making it the center of geopolitical competition; the United States and the European Union have tried to strike a deal with Africa to preserve mineral deposits and reduce dependence on China.

♦️ European Union has strategic mineral partnerships with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Namibia and Zambia.

♦️ China has bilateral agreements with 11 African countries in the mining sector.

♦️ United States has tripartite agreements with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia.

And recently, the European Union also signed "Minerals for Peace" agreements with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda to help end the decades-long conflict in eastern Congo.

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Although African countries need support to turn their resources into wealth, these partnerships often produce conditions reminiscent of the colonial era, when African countries were increasingly becoming centers of the mineral cold war.

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United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described China's mineral export control measures as "economic coercion" and a "usurpation of power in global supply chains."

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As a result, the United States president has shown signs of impending distress and is trying to find an alternative partner to supply rare earth minerals to fill the supply gap and for long-term supply chain stability, it is likely that the United States is at a disadvantage to China and that the China blockade strategy pursued by the United States has not been successful.

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Most recently, at the APEC 2025 meeting in Busan, South Korea, President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping met for the first time in six years. After about 40 minutes of discussions, the United States and China reached an agreement whereby the United States would reduce import tariffs on Chinese goods from 57% to 47%, a reduction in tariffs related to fentanyl precursors from 20% to 10%.

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While China itself agreed to suspend the previously announced rare earth export control order for a year to alleviate direct conflict with the United States, it also agreed to return soybeans from the United States and to cooperate in cracking down on illegal fentanyl imports into the United States.

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