Rare earths tensions escalate as the US & China trade barbs.

Rare Earth US & China – (Special Correspondent / Web Desk) – On Thursday, Chinese state media released a seven-point rebuttal to US proposals for Beijing to reduce its rare earth limitations, as both sides struggle to move past a salvo of barbs and accusations of blindsiding one other.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer described China’s new rare earth export restrictions on Wednesday as “a global supply-chain power grab,” and suggested that Beijing could avoid President Donald Trump’s threat to reimpose triple-digit tariffs on Chinese goods by postponing the measures, which were set to go into effect on November 8.

Beijing maintains that it not only notified Washington before announcing the new licensing regime, but that the controls are also consistent with measures long in place in other major economies.

The US and China have been embroiled in a war of words since a September telephone call between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, with each accusing the other of stoking tensions weeks ahead of an expected meeting between the two men.

Beijing attributes the ramped-up rhetoric to the US Commerce Department’s surprise expansion of its “Entity List” in late September to include companies in China and elsewhere that use subsidiaries to bypass export restrictions on chipmaking equipment and other high-tech goods.

Washington pins the start to China’s critical minerals move, which Trump described as “shocking.”

“The United States has long overstated national security concerns and abused controls, adopting discriminatory practices against China,” stated one of seven infographics released by People’s Daily, the ruling Communist Party’s official publication. According to the poster, Washington has a control list of nearly 3,000 goods, compared to 900 in Beijing’s catalogue.

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“Implementing such export controls is consistent with international practice,” the first poster said, reiterating Beijing’s stance on the measures since their announcement.

Washington has had similar rules since the 1950s, and has been using them in recent years to stop foreign semiconductor companies from selling chips to China if they are made using US technology.

“Washington should not be surprised by China’s ‘tit-for-tat’,” read an editorial in the Global Times, a People’s Daily-owned tabloid, which has often been first to report on China’s next steps in trade disagreements.

“The sudden shift in the trade atmosphere caught many by surprise, yet that’s not surprising,” the editorial continued.

“The direct trigger for this round of tension was Washington’s breach of promises — an all-too familiar pattern.”