Article

2019-05-21 China-Japan-Koreas

China foolishly threatens rare earth elements ban

[American Thinker] Chinese threats to ban exports of "rare earth elements" critical to high-tech American products will foolishly boomerang by forcing the U.S. to ramp up mining and processing.

Bloomberg reported that China’s President Xi Jinping visited the JL MAG Rare-Earth Company mine to fuel "speculation that the strategic materials could be weaponized in China’s tit-for-tat with the U.S. on trade."

Rare earth elements are crucial to high-tech devices because of their unique magnetic and lighting properties, such as neodymium used in the commercial-scale wind farm magnets to maximize the efficiency of electric generators to produce current. Newer applications include hybrid electric cars, iPhones and military hardware such as night-vision goggles and guided weapons.

Posted by Besoeker 2019-05-21 05:07|| || Front Page|| [11150 views ] Top

#1 Let's just end this crap once and for all. Pull every scrap of manufacturing out of Communist China, place a 300% tariff on all goods made in Communist China, kick them out of the WTO and tell ALL of our other trading partners that they either do the same or they don't trade with us.

Posted by Snomonter Whose7528 2019-05-21 07:15|| 2019-05-21 07:15|| Front Page Top

#2 Now the foreign shoe import people are raising hell with POTUS over the China tariffs.

Dozens of shoe retailers, including Nike and Adidas, sign letter to Trump urging a halt to tariffs

I believe "Allen Edmonds' up in Port Washington, WI may be the last American made men's shoe.

Posted by Besoeker 2019-05-21 07:35|| 2019-05-21 07:35|| Front Page Top

#3 I wondered when they would pull this card. China does produce the bulk of the world's supply, but only because it is willing to pollute the shit out of itself. Producing rare earth (which really aren't that rare, just low concentrations) requires you to dig up huge swaths of dirt and run it through a nasty chemical cocktail to refine the metals out. The end result is a polluted torn up landscape.

With other western (and Japan) countries needing to produce their own, the process would get cleaner as their populations would demand it. But it will take time to bring those industries up to speed and the cost of electronics would go up significantly if China did stop trade.

There is your Rantburg info on the subject for the day.

Posted by DarthVader 2019-05-21 07:42|| 2019-05-21 07:42|| Front Page Top

#4 And this is just to jobs lost at Brown shoe manufacturing in Illinois, over a period of 50-60 years:

Lost Illinois Manufacturing
March 25, 2016 ·
A special thank you to Sally Smith (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php…) and Ken Smith for this photo of the old Brown Shoe factory in Salem, Illinois. In 1962 the Brown Shoe Company had seven factories in Illinois employing over 3,200 people.
Charleston (450 employees)
Litchfield (400 employees),
Mattoon (508 employees)
Murphysboro (650 employees)
Pittsfield (475 employees)
Salem (450 employees),
Sullivan (425 employees).

(Not listed, Brown Shoe factory in Olney, number of employees unknown)

fb Link found here.

Posted by Besoeker 2019-05-21 07:45|| 2019-05-21 07:45|| Front Page Top

#5 New Balance is American Made

Posted by Frank G 2019-05-21 08:30|| 2019-05-21 08:30|| Front Page Top

#6 Yes, thanks Frank. I have a pair of 990's. A very good product.

Posted by Besoeker 2019-05-21 08:31|| 2019-05-21 08:31|| Front Page Top

#7 See yesterday's Rare Earth

Posted by Skidmark 2019-05-21 08:46|| 2019-05-21 08:46|| Front Page Top

#8 Thanks for the shoe rec.

Posted by Skidmark 2019-05-21 09:14|| 2019-05-21 09:14|| Front Page Top

#9 Skechers and Dr. Marten are American-made.

Posted by JohnQC 2019-05-21 11:47|| 2019-05-21 11:47|| Front Page Top

#10 Only the upper end New Balance. The bottom lines are not.