BEIJING — China claims it could use rare earths to hit back in the trade war with the United States.
According to Reuters, Chinese state propaganda warned that Beijing could cut the U.S. off from rare earths.
According to the Associated Press, the Trump administration has imposed 25 percent tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese imports and is planning to tax the $300 billion in imports that have so far been spared.
Trump also threw down the hammer by putting Huawei on a blacklist that bars U.S. companies from supplying the Chinese company without government approval.
CCP tabloid Global Times warned that China has lots of ways to retaliate, including cutting off the supply of rare earths.
According to Reuters, rare earths are a group of 17 chemical elements used in high-tech consumer electronics to military equipment.
According to Merrill Lynch research, China produced 78 percent of the world's rare earths last year.
The U.S. used to be the world's leading producer of rare earths, but the incredible pollution that comes with mining the elements caused production to move overseas.
According to Reuters, some trade analysts expect an acceleration in bringing new rare earth mining capacity online in California and Australia if China does throw its rare earth Trump card.
