October 14 should have been the beginning of a "normal" communication between China and the United States, and the United States actively expressed hope to talk about China's latest rare-earth export controls. Flatly denied the call request, has not been notified through any diplomatic channels, but has let the United States itself know the news from the public media.

U.S. Trade Representative Greer learned that he was upset, but global netizens fell to the ground. The ¡°American joke.¡±Even the Russian media rarely uses "embarrassment" to describe the situation of the United States. Why is China taking tough action at this time? Why is the United States so broken that even Trump personally stepped up to increase tariffs? Does this new situation in the trade war mean that U.S. hegemony is beginning to collapse?

On the same day, the Ministry of Commerce of China issued a number of export control notices on rare earth, super hard materials and lithium battery negative materials, clearly defining the export threshold for these critical materials.

For example, products containing more than 0.1% heavy rare earth content must be declared and licensed before export. If you don't apply for approval, you won't approve it, and even the next application may be rejected.This standard is the same as the 0.1% restriction rules set by the United States for Chinese companies in the semiconductor field.

Globally, 95% of synthetic diamonds come from China, and the global proportion of lithium battery anode materials is more than 90%. These materials are widely used in more than 400 subdivisions such as semiconductors, quantum technology, AI chips, aerospace, and intelligent manufacturing.

TSMC uses 3000 tons of heavy rare earths every year, and South Korea is also extremely dependent on China.It can be said that China's policy came out, and the entire high-tech manufacturing chain in the United States was "in the neck."The United States first tried to communicate by phone after learning about the news, but China did not.

Greer was emotional in an interview with the media, directly accusing China of being "too extreme" and threatening that China was "using trade as a weapon". Trump even made malicious remarks, saying that if China does not deregulate, the United States will consider banning Boeing aircraft from being exported to China.

Since 2018, the United States has gradually suppressed China's high-tech development through 301 surveys, entity lists, and various export restrictions, with the aim of locking China in the framework of low-end manufacturing.

The United States demands that China must buy American products, but not let China sell high-end products to the United States.This is the essence of the trade war.

China¡¯s move is not temporary. As early as Trump's first term, China had begun to comprehensively prepare for "technological decoupling."From the release of "Made in China 2025" in 2015 to the completion of the set goal of more than 86% in 2024, to the basic formation of the chip industry chain and the maturity of 5 - 7nm process technology, China has built a technological system that does not rely on the United States.

The share of U.S. exports also fell from 19% in 2017 to 9.8% this year, while U.S. reliance on China did not decrease much.This also explains why the U.S. trade market fell in less than a month after the China-U.S. trade war resumed in early April. The U.S. understands that if the hard clashes continue, the U.S. market will bear the huge cost of high inflation, high unemployment and supply chain rupture.

Faced with China's rare earth control, the United States does not have many countermeasures. Trump restarted the old routine of "100% tariffs" and tried to use punitive tax rates to force China to compromise. This plan will be officially implemented from November 1, and the average tariff level of the United States on China will exceed 130%.However, the actual effect is not optimistic. The Chinese market has been diversified, and the import channels of agricultural products have long been independent of the United States.

U.S. soybeans are delayed, corn is delayed, farmers complain, the American soybeans association has repeatedly screamed in the media, hoping that Trump "do not stimulate China anymore".

On October 10, the Ministry of Transportation of China announced a special port service fee for all ships associated with the United States, including all ships built by the United States and flying the U.S. flag and holding more than 25% of U.S. shares. $400 per net ton by 2025 and gradually increased to $1,120 over the next three years.

In the past, China's countermeasures were relatively restrained, and now China's recruitment is fast and accurate, hitting the most painful places in the United States. This is in sharp contrast to Trump's mindless policy of raising taxes at any time.The "long-arm jurisdiction" of the United States has always been rampant all over the world, and now it has finally been "treated with others the way they do."

China's tough attitude, in fact, won the strong support of global netizens. on the social platform X, netizens joked "America is finally picked up", and there are people who say "the rabbit will bite, especially China." German mass, French Airbus and other European companies also quickly adjust their strategy, announcing that they will increase cooperation with China in the field of rare earth.

On October 14, Volkswagen announced that it would build a rare earth processing center in Germany, with Chinese companies as partners. Air France has also publicly stated that it will increase the procurement of rare earth and participate in the research and development of alternative materials.These moves indicate that global capital is ¡°voting¡± with practical action and is reluctant to follow the United States to ¡°deconnect¡±.

According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Commerce, in the first three quarters of 2025, U.S. companies 'investment in China fell by 18%, while EU and ASEAN investment in China increased by 22% and 31% respectively. This shows that the United States 'decoupling strategy has failed, and global capital is looking for a new anchor for stability, and China is that anchor.

At the same time, on October 16, China and BRICS countries signed a key mineral cooperation agreement, planning to build a rare earth reserve bank before 2026. This mechanism will further weaken the United States' control over the global mineral supply chain.UN Secretary-General Guterres also called in a public speech that global problems cannot be solved by unilateralism, and a win-win situation must be achieved through multilateral cooperation and respect for sovereignty.

In the past, the United States relied on "sanctions" to make high-tech enterprises in France, Germany, Japan and other countries dumb one by one. Now this hegemonic means has finally met a real challenger. China is neither Iran nor Cuba. China not only has strong manufacturing capabilities, but also has a complete industrial chain and constantly improving scientific and technological strength. In 2024, China's manufacturing industry will account for 45% of the global share, and it may even be higher in the future.

The global semiconductor market has become fragmented and chaotic due to the U.S. Chip and Science Act. The global chip market will drop by 8.3% in 2025. This is not a global problem, but a problem made by the United States itself.

It is now difficult for the United States to establish its image as a "beacon of democracy" in the political field. On the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the Middle East issue, the double-standard behavior of the United States has long caused global dissatisfaction.The 2025 Pew survey showed that global trust in the United States fell to 32%, setting a record low. Militarily, the United States frequently exercises and intervenes in troops, and 67% of the world's armed conflicts are directly or indirectly related to them.

This chain reaction caused by rare earth control is not just a trade conflict, but a shock of the global order. With this accuracy, China broke the U.S.-led global supply chain narrative and pushed for more fair international rules.

This is not a simple escalation of the Sino-US trade war, but the beginning of the reconstruction of the global economic landscape. The era when the United States dominated the world by relying on its "long-arm jurisdiction" is really over. The world has been suffering from the United States for a long time, and now someone has finally stood up and said "no."

Source of information:

China Offers New Rare-Earth Rules, Trump Is Again ¡°Threatening¡± on Observer Network

To counter China¡¯s dominance in rare earth fields, the U.S. Department of Defense plans to purchase $1 billion in key minerals.