The contents of this article are written with authoritative materials and personal opinions. The source of the literature has been marked at the end of the article, so please know.
on 9 October, China government implements comprehensive control over the export of key rare earth resources on the grounds of "national security."And creatively reverse the concept of "long arm jurisdiction" in the traditional sense.
The move caught the U.S. government off guard. President Trump was very angry and plunged into chaos within the White House.
Trump has used social media to make long remarks in a row, strongly criticizing Chinese initiatives. Call it a "very strange" provocative move.
Linking the rare earth dispute to the Middle East ceasefire negotiations is intended to show that such behavior may become an obstacle to his bid for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Trump has repeatedly expressed his commitment to promoting the world's lasting and stable development, but this has made his emotions unstable and anger difficult to calm down.
A few years ago, the United States used the Export Control Regulation (EAR) and the entity listing system. Use "national security" as an excuse to implement a technical blockade on China's high-tech companies.
These sanctions are activated when controlled items or dollar settlement situations exist and contain ingredients made in the United States.
This is called “long-arm jurisdiction,” which Washington has used for years.
This time, China did something they never imagined-copied this set of rules and started in reverse.
China’s export control policy has significant strategic value.
The scope it controls has covered Holmium, erbium, thulium, europium and ytterbiumThese 12 rare-earth elements and their derivatives.
According to the relevant regulations issued by the Ministry of Commerce, all goods involving military use or semiconductor fields are included in the list of strict regulations, and there is a possibility of a full embargo.
Moreover, the control order also clearly states that regardless of whether the product is produced in China, as long as it involves Chinese rare earth, it must be subject to Chinese audit.
China's move is to inform the world of China's global leading position in rare earth extraction and processing.
Although the Shankou mining area in California, USA is rich in rare earth resources, However, its smelting and separation technology is relatively backward.
So many primary minerals need to use external agencies to complete further processing work, the idea of "multi-reserve" has a certain propaganda effect, but lacks a practical support base.
The strategy of "precision strike" is specifically aimed at the US military's Military equipment, new energy vehicles and F-35 fighter jetsOther key areas are highly dependent on rare and precious metals to launch attacks, which has put the United States in a very passive state.
The Chinese government’s response goes beyond the mere technical level, introducing a punitive fee mechanism for operations of U.S. vessels in Chinese ports starting in October. Additional charges are charged on a net tonnage basis, and the charging standards are intended to be increased year by year。
This is a series of reciprocal countermeasures, which together with the rare earth export restriction policy form a comprehensive defense system including trade and technology.
The countermeasures adopted by the Chinese government Systematic, multidimensional synergies and active engagement in global affairs managementThe characteristics.
Technology export control is mainly aimed at the upstream implementation of restrictions in the supply chain, but port charges policy has set up a cost barrier in the logistics link.The two cooperate and effectively enhance the overall strategic deterrent.
The Trump administration has responded to this with a tough and strong emotion.
Starting in November, it announced high tariffs on Chinese goods and intended to include "core software" in the scope of strict export controls, although this practice shows a clear attitude, but the potential risks cannot be overlooked.
Financial markets reacted quickly, Most major U.S. stock indexes showed a downward trendThe Dow Jones Industrial Average, as well as the S&P 500, suffered a sharp drop.
The current internal atmosphere of the U.S. government is very tense. On the one hand, it has repeatedly emphasized that it has absolute leadership in the global rare earth supply chain, and on the other hand, it has admitted that there are no corresponding supporting policies before.
This contradictory attitude exposes clear gaps in its strategic planning. The strategic advantages brought by America's status as a "rule-maker" are being challenged and questioned as never before.
This round of China-U.S. strategic games has gone beyond the scope of traditional trade wars and technological competition, slowly becoming a comprehensive layout about rule-making, international speech and global governance model restructuring.
By promulgating the Export Control Law and the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law, China has created a multi-level institutional defense system and launched multiple checks and balances at the levels of port logistics, international trade and cross-border transportation, thereby creating a systematic anti-containment network architecture.
Trump has said that “America’s dominance in global trade has been consolidated,” but his practical policies do not reflect that.
Such words and actions have caused the outside world to start to doubt whether he really wants to take the initiative to change the global economic and trade pattern.
Even some White House officials have directly stated that China’s move is not just aimed at a certain sector of industry. It has fundamentally shaken the ability and authority of the United States to occupy a long-standing central position in the formulation of international rules.
A few weeks ago, the U.S. Special Commission on China proposed to strengthen controls on Chinese semiconductor equipment exports, which appears to indicate the intention of the U.S. side to increase its unilateral influence in the formulation of international rules.
But the Chinese government’s subsequent actions completely subverted their existing perceptions.
In terms of technical export control, China has expanded the scope of classification of rare land, increased the scope of management and established a systematic regulatory mechanism to improve the system; while logistics is to transfer the cost to the U.S. by charging port charges.
Although the United States has also adopted methods such as increasing tariffs, strengthening export restrictions, and attacking public opinion to deal with problems, However, it is difficult to form an effective counter-strategy.
In this process, the Chinese government has steadily advanced its work in accordance with the established strategy, and has shown a marked trend of shift from passive defense to active offensive.
The ending seems to have been written.
This has great strategic value for China, and it is a big defeat of the Trump administration in global governance. His words are full of personal emotional tendencies, and they can't hide the internal uneasiness.
Now the situation in all aspects of the world is undergoing great changes.
The possibility of the old order system led by the United States being changed is beginning to change. The right to establish global rules has also changed, starting with the establishment of a major power.
References:
1. "China's improvement of rare earth governance is to protect the stability of the global production and supply chain" 2025-10-10 09:26 | Source: Global Times
“The United States included several entities in the export control “entity list”, the Ministry of Commerce response” 2025-10-10 14:51 PM Source: Beijing Daily Client
3. "Trump threatens to impose substantial tariffs on China, and U.S. stocks plummet" 2025-10-11 00:49 | Source: Observer.com