David Pierson
China’s decision to tighten export controls on rare earth metals was not only about strengthening its grip on the world’s supply of the crucial minerals. It was also a high-stakes ploy to jolt President Trump into paying attention to what Beijing felt were attempts by his subordinates to sabotage a U.S.-China détente, analysts say.
Evidently, it worked: Mr. Trump has redirected his focus toward trade with China. But China’s move also unnerved governments and businesses in Europe, and sparked another round of tit-for-tat trade blows, rattling stock markets.
Days after Mr. Trump said he would impose 100 percent tariffs on Chinese goods next month, China added five American subsidiaries of a South Korean shipping company to its sanctions list. On Tuesday, Mr. Trump threatened to cut off U.S. purchases of Chinese cooking oil.
By Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested the U.S. government would counter Chinese economic measures by exerting more control over private American businesses in key strategic sectors.
The escalating tensions threaten to wipe out any progress the two sides have made in the past five months to roll back punitive measures they had taken against each other. They also raise the question of whether Beijing pushed its strategy too far by making clear that China will use the minerals as a geopolitical weapon.
China was reacting to a Sept. 29 decision by the U.S. Department of Commerce to expand the number of companies, including potentially Chinese ones, blacklisted from acquiring American technology. That move surprised Beijing, which thought the countries had reached a truce in their trade war after four rounds of negotiations and a Sept. 19 phone call between Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader, and Mr. Trump, Chinese analysts said.
Flexing China’s control over rare earths — akin to poking Mr. Trump in the eye — may also have been intended by Mr. Xi to demonstrate his strength to a domestic audience before a crucial meeting of Communist Party leaders next week.
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