The United States Needs Rare Earth Like It Needs Jobs
Facts about Rare Earth (RE):
It has come to global attention that China owns a monopoly in Rare Earth (RE). They are the only country who are capable of refining RE, and they want to keep it that way. Even if RE is mined by other countries, the RE has to be shipped to China for refinement, and then shipped back to the customer country. China has already flexed it’s power of the RE industry by reducing their exports in the past, and sending the electronics industry into a panic. The immediate result was an inflation on RE goods by about 600 percent. These are not the kind of games we need to be playing in the United States, and it’s about time we start developing our own RE industry. We need jobs, and we need RE, so why aren’t we doing something about this? The industry would be massive, and jobs would be guaranteed, as our dependence on sophisticated electronics increases. We need a RE industry in the United States.
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2016.03.22
China Controls 97 Percent Of Rare Earth Industry Worldwide
30 percent of the earth’s rare earth mineral deposits can be found in China, however, they control 97 percent of the rare earth industry. This means the entire planet is the mercy of China when it comes to pretty much any type of electronics we buy today. Here’s what is really troubling: the Chinese government is consolidating any and all of the rare earth refineries to just a few different companies. They have already forced 35 companies to merge together. They are doing this for one simple reason, and that is market control. They want to be able to dictate the value of certain rare earth metals, or suddenly make a particular metal scarce, so they can manipulate the price. They are essentially able to do whatever they want to do. They own the rare earth industry.
What does this mean for us here in America? Well if you don’t believe anything will happen, and everything is hunky dory, then guess again. China has already stopped shipments of various metals to the U.S., Japan, and Europe to test out how effective it would raise the rates for metals. It worked. While companies around the world go bankrupt because they don’t have the resources to do their jobs, China makes more money and has fun playing the markets they’ve created for themselves. That’s not all. China wants more. They have made plans to dramatically minimize exports of magnet materials used in electronic motors, like the ones used in electric cars, so they can be the producer of these very motors needed in the automobile industry.
China has shown us what they want, and it doesn’t take that much thought to figure out they want it all. First it’s manipulating the markets. People lose their jobs, and companies go bankrupt. Then they make plans to just keep some materials for the purpose of taking over an entire industry. More people lose their jobs, and companies go bankrupt. These are games we can’t afford to be playing. What they are doing in China is terrible, and it’s all our own fault. We need industry back in America. We need to develop AND manufacture in America, and we need to start taking steps toward this goal immediately.
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2016.03.19
China Demonstrates Their Power Over Rare Earth Monopoly
China now owns a monopoly in rare earth. It is estimated that over 90 percent of rare earth comes from China. If you don’t think rare earth minerals are a big deal, then through away your phone, computer, car, microwave, and just about anything else that uses electronics today. Rare earth minerals are essential in producing electronic goods. Why does China have a monopoly in rare earth? Apparently, it hasn’t been a vary big concern to the U.S. until recently. China has demonstrated what they are capable of doing to manipulate the RE industry. In 2010, China reduced the export of REs by 40 percent – keep in mind they own more than 90 percent of this industry. By 2011, REs were inflated by as much as 600 percent. This isn’t the only time China has demonstrated it’s power over the RE industry. In 2010, a Chinese fisherman collided his vessel into 2 different Japanese coast guard vessels in the span of 40 minutes. He was detained for fishing in Japanese waters, and for colliding with Japanese coast guard ships. After that, China responded by cutting off all RE exports to Japan until they felt the issue was resolved. This event was devastating to Japan, and it was the result of a crazy fisherman who decided to crash his boat into the Japanese coast guard ships.
http://www.livescience.com/29287-is-china-mining-a-rare-earth-monopoly-op-ed.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/23/business/global/23rare.html