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But can they make any products at all without Chinese Rare Earth materials? Production is at the end... I believe that is the Ace in the sleeve. Just jack the p

by cronix 7y ago

But can they make any products at all without Chinese Rare Earth materials? Production is at the end... I believe that is the Ace in the sleeve. Just jack the price of rare earth minerals 1000%, or temporarily halt production. It won't matter what country they are manufactured in if you can't get all of the parts you need, or get them economically...

jpollock 7y ago
This is about avoiding US import duties, not avoiding Chinese export bans.
EliRivers 7y ago
Here's the register talking about the last time China decided to flex their rare earth monopoly; https://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/09/02/western_worlds_only_rare_earth_mine_closes/ https://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/09/02/western_worlds_only... Here's the same commentator more recently; https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/23/18637071/rare-earth-china-production-america-demand-trade-war-tariffs https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/23/18637071/rare-earth-china... Basically, yes, you can make them without Chinese rare earths, and it won't break the bank. You can just dig them up and process them elsewhere.
chibg10 7y ago
Rare earth metals are not as rare as their name suggests, and there are plenty of mines outside of China capable of meeting demand for them. There hasn't been sufficient motivation to tap those mines yet, but that if there's money to be made (i.e. Beijing limits supply) then those mines will be up in a hurry. The threat isn't empty but it's not really a trump card either. This is all based off what I've read on the topic from mainstream news sources. I'm not an expert in this area.
_iyig 7y ago
Yes. The U.S. can reopen the Mountain Pass mine, as was previously discussed on HN: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Pass_rare_earth_mine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Pass_rare_earth_mine https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20055069 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20055069 (Submission looks flagged now for some reason?)
briffle 7y ago
Most other rare earth mines closed up because they couldn't compete with China's price (which was rumored to be HEAVILY subsidized to corner the market) if you increase the price of rare earth minerals 1000%, you will quickly see many of those mines re-activate, as they are now profitable to run. For example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Pass_rare_earth_mine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Pass_rare_earth_mine

by cronix 7y ago

jpollock 7y ago

This is about avoiding US import duties, not avoiding Chinese export bans.

EliRivers 7y ago

Here's the register talking about the last time China decided to flex their rare earth monopoly; https://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/09/02/western_worlds_only_rare_earth_mine_closes/ https://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/09/02/western_worlds_only... Here's the same commentator more recently; https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/23/18637071/rare-earth-china-production-america-demand-trade-war-tariffs https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/23/18637071/rare-earth-china... Basically, yes, you can make them without Chinese rare earths, and it won't break the bank. You can just dig them up and process them elsewhere.

chibg10 7y ago

Rare earth metals are not as rare as their name suggests, and there are plenty of mines outside of China capable of meeting demand for them. There hasn't been sufficient motivation to tap those mines yet, but that if there's money to be made (i.e. Beijing limits supply) then those mines will be up in a hurry. The threat isn't empty but it's not really a trump card either. This is all based off what I've read on the topic from mainstream news sources. I'm not an expert in this area.

_iyig 7y ago

Yes. The U.S. can reopen the Mountain Pass mine, as was previously discussed on HN: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Pass_rare_earth_mine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Pass_rare_earth_mine https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20055069 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20055069 (Submission looks flagged now for some reason?)

briffle 7y ago

Most other rare earth mines closed up because they couldn't compete with China's price (which was rumored to be HEAVILY subsidized to corner the market) if you increase the price of rare earth minerals 1000%, you will quickly see many of those mines re-activate, as they are now profitable to run. For example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Pass_rare_earth_mine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Pass_rare_earth_mine