In 1973 a<\/small>\u00a0club of Arab petrostates held the world to ransom by halting crude-oil exports to countries they accused of supporting Israel. Petrol prices soared; Western economies buckled. Today the danger is that China will use its grip on other natural resources to achieve its aims, such as seizing Taiwan. It has already shown its power by choking off exports of rare-earth metals last year. That is why America is staging its biggest intervention in commodity markets in decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The battleground is the supply of \u201ccritical\u201d metals, a group of minerals vital to making military, electrical and computing infrastructure\u2014everything modern economies need to be safe, high-tech and green. China supplies most of these: it mines about 80% of the world\u2019s tungsten, for instance, and refines 99% of its gallium. This is spurring America into an all-out campaign to diversify its sourcing of 60 minerals. It has pledged billions of dollars to dozens of mining projects at home and abroad, floated plans to create price floors and trade blocs, and announced a vast stockpile to cover months of national needs. The risk now is that America depends too much on its scattershot efforts\u2014and that, in seeking control, it breaks the flexible and resilient system of market incentives that ensures the smooth functioning of the global economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China\u2019s grip on critical minerals has exposed the West\u2019s most serious strategic weakness in many years. Last April, during its trade war with America, China restricted exports of seven crucial rare earths; it targeted another five in October. Nearly a third of Pentagon procurement programmes faced the risk of shortages, as did industries from carmaking to renewable energy. The prospect of large-scale disruption prodded President Donald Trump into a trade truce with Xi Jinping, as well as a relaxation of American controls on some technology exports. Yet Mr Xi can deploy the weapon again whenever he chooses. Meanwhile, exports of rare earths for dual-use applications\u2014the expanding grey zone between military and civilian uses\u2014remain largely barred, sapping Western efforts to rearm….<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p> America is racing to break China\u2019s chokehold on critical minerals\u2014but its approach has flaws. It should follow three principles https:\/\/t.co\/t5SkUsYgjf<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/BgoWViJBZv<\/a><\/p>— The Economist (@TheEconomist) February 26, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote>