China steps up threat to deprive US of rare earths

Warning is the latest salvo in the US-China trade war

BEIJING: Chinese state media on Wednesday dangled the threat of cutting exports of rare earths to the United States as a counter-strike in the trade war, potentially depriving Washington of a key resource used to make everything from smartphones to military hardware.

The warning is the latest salvo in a dispute that has intensified since President Donald Trump ramped up tariffs against China and moved to blacklist telecom giant Huawei earlier this month, while trade talks have apparently stalled.

Huawei stepped up its legal battle on Wednesday, announcing it had filed a motion in US court for summary judgement in its bid to overturn US legislation that bars federal agencies from using its equipment over security concerns.

Beijing had already dropped a big hint that rare earths could be in the firing line by showing images last week of President Xi Jinping visiting a rare earths factory in Ganzhou, central China.

An unnamed official from the National Development and Reform Commission, China's state planner, issued a cryptic warning late Tuesday.

"You asked whether rare earths will become China's countermeasure against unwarranted suppression from the US. What I can tell you is that if anyone wants to use products made from our rare-earth exports to curb and suppress China's development, I'm sure the people of Ganzhou and across China will not be happy with that," the official said in answers to questions published by state media.

The official said rare-earth resources should "serve domestic needs first" but China is also willing to meet the "legitimate needs of countries around the world".

Shares in rare earth companies surged in the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets during Wednesday trading.

State media was more blunt.

"Waging a trade war against China, the United States risks losing the supply of materials that are vital to sustaining its technological strength," the official Xinhua news agency said in a commentary.

The state-owned Global Times tabloid warned in an editorial posted online that the "US will rue forcing China's hand on rare earths".

"It is believed that if the US increasingly suppresses the development of China, sooner or later, China will use rare earths as a weapon," the nationalist tabloid said.

China produces more than 95% of the world's rare earths, and the United States relies on China for upwards of 80% of its imports.

Rare earths are 17 elements critical to manufacturing everything from smartphones and televisions to cameras and lightbulbs.

Beijing could hurt US companies in what is shaping up as a battle for who will dominate the future of hi-tech.

Huawei took the US to court over a defence bill passed by Congress last year that bans government agencies from using its equipment. But it also faces a recent Trump administration order that cuts it off from critical American-made components for its products.

"The US government has provided no evidence to show that Huawei is a security threat," Huawei's Chief Legal Officer Song Liuping told reporters, rejecting US warnings that the company's equipment could be used by China to spy on other countries.