BEIJING — China claims it could use rare earths to hit back in the trade war with the United States.<br /><br />According to Reuters, Chinese state propaganda warned that Beijing could cut the U.S. off from rare earths. <br />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. <br />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. <br />CCP tabloid Global Times warned that China has lots of ways to retaliate, including cutting off the supply of rare earths. <br />According to Reuters, rare earths are a group of 17 chemical elements used in high-tech consumer electronics to military equipment.<br />According to Merrill Lynch research, China produced 78 percent of the world's rare earths last year. <br /><br />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. <br />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.
