China will not rule out using rare earth exports as leverage in trade war with US
- A governmental spokesman says Beijing will give priority to domestic demand for the minerals, though China is the leading exporter to the US
- The remarks come after Chinese President Xi Jinping visits a major rare earth mining and processing facility in Ganzhou
China’s top economic planning agency indicated late on Tuesday that the government has not ruled out using rare earth exports as a new bargaining chip in its continuing trade war with the US.
China is the global leader of rare earths – minerals that are critical to the manufacture of consumer electronics, semiconductors and military equipment – accounting for 90 per cent of the world’s rare earths production.
In a late-night statement released to Chinese media, a spokesman for the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) first responded to questions that China’s exports of rare earths might be used as leverage in Beijing’s protracted trade conflict with Washington by reiterating its position that a “trade war has no winners”.
Still, while saying that Beijing would maintain the principles of “open, coordinated and sharing” in developing its rare earth industry, the spokesman said it would give priority to domestic demand.
The comments follow Chinese President Xi Jinping’s high-profile visit last week to one of the country’s major rare earth mining and processing facilities in Ganzhou, Jiangxi province – his first domestic trip since the escalation in the trade war this month.
“If anyone wants to use the products made from our rare earth exports to try to counter China’s development, then the people from the southern Jiangxi Communist revolutionary base would not be happy, and the people of China will not be happy,” the NDRC representative said.