#rare-earths

#rare-earths

Lars Klingbeil's trip will be the first visit to China by a cabinet minister of the current German government and the trip to Berlin's most important trading partner comes at a sensitive time. Chinese export controls, especially on rare earths, have highlighted the German economy's heavy dependence on China. The German automotive industry, for example, has felt the effects as it faces a shortage of important parts.

Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, returned from South Carolina last week brandishing a small piece of metal, proclaiming that it was the first rare-earth magnet made in the US in a quarter of a century. It was, he indicated to Fox Business, proof that the US is ending China's chokehold on our supply chain. Thanks to the South Carolina company eVAC's new rare-earth mineral processing center, Bessent added: We're finally becoming independent again.

In a World War II bunker east of Frankfurt, a steel door weighing over four tonnes protects Germany's largest reserve of rare earths, a treasure at the heart of rising geopolitical tensions. The exact location of the bunker is confidential and the site is under close video surveillance. This is where Tradium, a German company specialised in trading rare earths, keeps thousands of barrels of the precious materials - almost all from China, the world's biggest producer.

Russia has reserves of 15 rare-earth metals totalling 28.7 million tonnes, according to the Natural Resources Ministry. Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his cabinet to draw up a roadmap for the extraction of rare-earth minerals by December 1, as global interest in the metals heightens due to their use in modern technologies and a desire to reduce reliance on the Chinese-dominated market.

China's dominance is truly massive,

After several record-setting days, markets are flat to down at the moment. Dow futures are down 139, as the S&P 500 fights to hold on to a single point. The NASDAQ is up about three points. All as investors digest the latest round of earnings. Plus, President Trump's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping seems to have gone well, with rare earth restrictions lifted.

The US government is reportedly considering new export controls that could block a wide range of products made with US software from being shipped to China, in what could become one of Washington's most sweeping trade measures to date. If implemented, the move could disrupt global technology supply chains and heighten uncertainty for multinational manufacturers that rely on US-developed software across their operations.

Seeing again the flexing of the administration to use industrial policy as a tool to drive its wider economic and trade agenda. Bessent it wouldn't consider stock market volatility when dealing with China on trade. Those kinds of comments have in the past left markets on edge - no Trump put. But not yesterday - the S&P 500 rallied 0.4% as it climbed not just the wall of worry but also its 20-day SMA.