Beijing recently tightened export controls on some critical rare earth elements, ratcheting up its tariff standoff with Washington. By monopolizing more than 90 percent of global rare earth processing, China has long held these 17 elements as a strategic chokepoint.
Analysts say Beijing’s new export licensing rules—ostensibly applying to all countries, but aimed at the United States—are likely a tactic to pressure Washington into trade concessions.
“This is a classic weaponized negotiation,” U.S.-based economist Davy J. Wong told The Epoch Times. It is designed to make Congress and industry lobby for relief from U.S. tariffs, export controls, and outbound investment restrictions, he said….
CCP’s ‘Weaponized Negotiation’ Could Backfire, Expert Says
