Trump Tariff List Targets High-Tech Minerals That U.S. Needs

[jpak]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-11/trump-s-tariff-list-targets-high-tech-minerals-that-u-s-needs

Given the Trump administration’s stated aim of maintaining its advantage in manufacturing prowess over China, there are some curious inclusions on Wednesday’s list of new tariffs.

Among them are rare-earths, an esoteric collection of minerals with strange names (yttrium, praseodymium), high-tech applications and a history of scarcity. They’re used in everything from hybrid vehicles to electronic gadgets and military hardware.

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China’s grip on rare-earths supply is so strong that the U.S. joined with other nations earlier this decade in a World Trade Organization case to force the nation to export more of the materials, not less, after prices spiked amid a global shortage. The WTO ruled in favor of the U.S., while prices eventually slumped as manufacturers turned to alternatives.

Imposing duties will “bring home to the American public the reality of how much of what they use in everyday life contains these technology metals,” Jack Lifton, the Michigan-based founder of rare earth consulting service Technology Metals Research LLC, said by phone. “The Chinese mine the rare-earths, they separate them, they refine them. This is the long-term trend and a 10 percent tariff will not do anything to stir any domestic production in the U.S.”

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[Iliyah]

1. What very important tho is Ivanka's clothing line and

t-rump's flags.

[McCamy Taylor]

2. Trump's tariffs are designed by Russia to drive manufacturing to Russia.

Russia is our biggest competitor when it comes to high tech manufacturing, and Trump is under orders to make it too costly for companies to do business here. Most companies already have a presence in Russia so all they have to do is expand--which Putin will make very easy.

Americans have been played for fools. The Neo-Cons and New Federalists and the Christian Coalition and the Tea Party and all the NeoNazis--they are all a bunch of blithering idiots who thought because Trump talked the ideology he was about the ideology. He has only ever been about one thing--serving his Russian masters.

[grantcart]

3. Three months ago I predicted this would be a problem

I begged for some to explain rare earth metal near monopoly


https://www.democraticunderground.com/100210447734

This is pretty basic stuff.

[Ilsa]

6. I remember something about that!

I'm wondering how much in rare earth minierals Russia controls, either by owning them in Russia, or through Kazahkstan or Azerbaijan?

[grantcart]

7. They are actually not that 'rare' but China is the only place

Where they can be extracted at commercially affordable prices

[roamer65]

4. The Chinese need to embargo them.

That will end this trade war within 2 months.

[McCamy Taylor]

5. China buys its oil from Russia. Russia will buy China's rare metals.

Russia will steal our manufacturing and elevate its working class to the point where China will not need the US and its consumer class. That is Russia's goal. The only people who may object will be India who like neither China nor Russia.

[grantcart]

8. Only 10% of Chinas oil imports come from Russia

50% is from the middle East

The rest from Africa and S America.

Angola sends more oil to China than Russia