Amid the swirling confusion over ever-shifting American tariff levels, threats of protectionist countermeasures and talk of imminent global trade wars, it was easy to miss the most significant shift of late in the strategic rivalry between the United States and China. Following the logic of export controls imposed by the Biden administration, President Donald Trump banned the sale of Nvidia’s H20 chips to China in a bid to blunt its rapid advances in AI. In turn, China choked off the supply of rare earth minerals to the U.
In turn, China choked off the supply of rare earth minerals to the U. The nation holds a virtual monopoly on the world’s supply, which is critical for industries across the manufacturing spectrum, including medical, defense and consumer electronics.