or shift workers on the ford explorer suv assembly line in Chicago, China’s stranglehold on rare earth minerals hit home in May. That’s when company officials announced their plant would be shutting down. “It’s day to day,” Ford CEO Jim Farley told
Bloomberg TV. “We’ve had to shut down facto- ries. It’s hand to mouth right now.” The reason that assembly line screeched to
a halt? Brakes, windshield wipers, power seats, alternators, audio systems, and transmissions all require rare earth metals that are in woefully short supply. That these vital materials could
FARLEY
push a great American company to the brink following China’s slow-walking of exports during trade negotiations came as no surprise to experts on U.S.- China relations. European and Japa- nese auto manufacturers faced the same dilemma. That’s due to China’s stranglehold over unique, rare metals and minerals
that are especially vital to U.S. strategic defense. These include lasers, satellites, rockets, high-per- formance jet engines, and artificial intelligence, to name only a few. Fortunately, President Donald Trump’s nego-
tiation skills brought Chinese leaders to the table in June to hammer out a trade deal, thereby re- opening the vital rare earth pipeline. “Our deal with China is done,” Trump an-
nounced on Truth Social. “Full magnets, and any necessary rare earths, will be supplied up front by China. We are getting a total of 55% tariffs, China is getting 10%.” With that news, Ford resumed
normal operations. But the near- brush with economic chaos was yet another reminder that the United States must reduce its fentanyl-like addiction to China’s rare earths as soon as humanly possible. Adam Savit, director of China policy initiatives
SAVIT
at the America First Policy Institute, compares the economic vulnerability to the 1973 OPEC oil embargo that left Americans waiting for hours in gas lines to fill up their vehicles, hoping they wouldn’t run out of fuel. “Oil is a great example because of how essen-
tial it is,” Savit tells Newsmax. The dystopian scenario would be if the United
States becomes so addicted to rare earth imports from China that it loses its ability to deter a war over Taiwan in the South China Sea.
Minerals Highlight Beijing Weakness D
espite their near monopoly over rare
earths, experts say Chinese leaders may be running out of time to fulfill their long- deferred dreams of taking over Taiwan and seizing control of vital East and South China seas shipping lanes. “In a weird way,” remarks
Adam Savit, director of China policy initiatives at the America First Policy Institute, “the fact that rare earths
40 NEWSMAX | AUGUST 2025
have come to the fore as the main tool of China kind of underlines their weakness.” Savit tells Newsmax rare
earths “seem to be their only tool in the toolbox.” China expert and author
Gordon Chang has long warned that Chinese leaders are running their economy into the ground by overstimulating production. He and other experts say China could face a deflationary collapse.
In 2023, for example,
a former Chinese oficial revealed that enough new apartments had been built to house a staggering 1.4 billion people, the entire population of China. But those dwellings were vacant and going unused. That analyst added China’s unsold homes might shelter another 3 billion. Beyond suspect economic
policies, the one-child policy limiting China’s population
growth from 1979 to 2015 is widely seen as disastrous, setting in motion massive demographic and labor challenges for the world’s second-most populous nation after India.
If Chang and Savit are right,
President Donald Trump’s bid to bolster U.S. rare earth metal production may be critical to deterrence efforts. “Rare earths may be their main point of leverage,” says Savit, “and therefore it’s only more important that we address it head on.” — D.P.
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