China loses trade dispute over rare earth exports

[JayAtl]

China loses trade dispute over rare earth exports| Reuters

(Reuters) - China has lost a dispute at the World Trade Organization over limits on rare earth and metals exports, handing Europe and the United States a victory over what they see as Beijing's unfair trade practices.

"Today's ruling by the WTO on rare earth shows that no one country can hoard its raw materials from the global market place at the expense of its other WTO partners," said EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht.

China produces more than 90 percent of the world's rare earths, key elements in defense industry components and modern technology from iPhones and disk drives to wind turbines.

 

[tranquilium]

Eh, it has been hinting for a while, so the ruling is expected. Next step, let's see anyone try to enforce it.

 

[Sam1980]

I hear Afghanistan and NK are pretty rich in rare minerals too.

Eh, it has been hinting for a while, so this kind of ruling was expected. Next step, let's see anyone try to enforce it.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

We should not be exporting rare earth minerals at all.

They make almost no profit, and they wreck the local environment.

We should only be producing as much as we need for domestic manufacture, others are welcome to try elsewhere for it.

 

[Jlaw]

Some posters mentioned joining the WTO yield no benefits to China. Now you know why.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

LOL, the funny thing is they want us to "stop polluting".

That's the whole reason we are limiting our own rare earth exports, to decrease the pollution in the environment.

But now they are like "NOOOO..."

 

[Jlaw]

LOL, the funny thing is they want us to "stop polluting".

That's the whole reason we are limiting our own rare earth exports, to decrease the pollution in the environment.

But now they are like "NOOOO..."

No, there is more to it than that. Rare earth is used in missiles and US has an abundance of reserves but have not mined them. This could be an attempt on the world to make China mine and export all its rare earth materials so they will not have enough reserves to produce advance missiles in the future.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

No, there is more to it than that. Rare earth is used in missiles and US has an abundance of reserves but have not mined them. This could be an attempt on the world to make China mine and export all its rare earth materials so they will not have enough reserves to produce advance missiles in the future.

I doubt we will ever "run out" of rare earth minerals, we have more rare earth reserves than the rest of the planet combined.

 

[Jlaw]

I doubt we will ever "run out" of rare earth minerals, we have more rare earth reserves than the rest of the planet combined.

Having the highest reserves does not mean you cannot run out of it.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

Having the highest reserves does not mean you cannot run out of it.

Do you have any data to suggest that such a scenario would even be remotely possible?

And running out of rare earth minerals for missiles is far-fetched as well, obviously military applications will have higher priority over such resources.

Lack of rare earths is much more likely to impact the commercial electronics manufacturing sector.

 

[Jlaw]

Do you have any data to suggest that such a scenario would even be remotely possible?

And running out of rare earth minerals for missiles is far-fetched as well, obviously military applications will have higher priority over such resources.

Lack of rare earths is much more likely to impact the commercial electronics manufacturing sector.

I do not have time to search that but you can do a Google. Rare earth has strong military applications, not just for consumer electronics.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

I do not have time to search that but you can do a Google. Rare earth has strong military applications, not just for consumer electronics.

Like I said, military applications will have the highest priority for rare earth resources.

Any cutbacks will be more likely to affect commercial electronics manufacturing worldwide.

 

[Chronos]

Like I said, military applications will have the highest priority for rare earth resources.

Any cutbacks will be more likely to affect commercial electronics manufacturing worldwide.

This is why the Chinese are smart, they control the source where technology runs on. That is immense power.

 

[tranquilium]

I hear Afghanistan and NK are pretty rich in rare minerals too.

Not sure about NK, but Afghanistan has one of world's largest lithium deposit. There are talks between Afghanistan government and China regarding to a possible deal.

 

[JayAtl]

We should not be exporting rare earth minerals at all.

They make almost no profit, and they wreck the local environment.

We should only be producing as much as we need for domestic manufacture, others are welcome to try elsewhere for it.

then leave the WTO... it is as simple as that. If you want to be part of the WTO then adhere to it.

You can't price gouge by hoarding it ...

LOL, the funny thing is they want us to "stop polluting".

That's the whole reason we are limiting our own rare earth exports, to decrease the pollution in the environment.

But now they are like "NOOOO..."

LOL you are Bs'ing . This " pollution" excuse is for clueless crowd...

We all know your govt subsidized the market to such an extent that china has 90% of the market. the thing was going fine till prices started falling. China then purposely started slowing production , this resulted in the prices jumping up 3/ 4 times...

If you are a part of WTO, such scams are not permitted.