Sino-US Tech War: No Electric Car Could Be Built in US Without China's Rare Earths

The Sino-US tech war continues to escalate. A private think tank in the US warned that as rare earths are indispensable in the production of electric vehicles and 90% of global rare earth produced in China, this means that China has a firm grasp of the US electric vehicle industry. They publicly called for the United States to use international cooperation to prevent China from restricting rare earth exports.

As two members of the Energy Security Leadership Council (ESLC)-former US Marine Corps commander James Conway and the founder of the International Center for Nonviolent Conflict Peter Ackerman, they explaining how severe the rare earth crisis facing the United States is. ESLC is a non-party organization composed of business, industry, and retired military officers. It pays attention to and studies energy security issues in the United States.

For the Sino-US tech war, Conway and Ackerman pointed out in an article that China had listed a series of emerging industries with major strategic and economic significance in the manufacturing plan, including electric vehicles and related battery industries.

They explained that more than 70% of the world's electric vehicle battery production capacity is in China, while the United States is less than 10%; of the 142 lithium-ion battery super factories under construction in the world, China accounts for 107 and the United States has only 9. The article pointed out that China produces more than 60% of the world's negative battery materials, 80% of the positive electrode materials, and most of the permanent magnets used in electric vehicle motors.

The processing of REEs and the production of electric vehicle parts are concentrated in China. Rare earths are known as "industrial gold" or "21^st-century technology metal." With the development of environmentally friendly vehicles in various countries and the development of the electric vehicle industry, the demand for rare earths is bound to increase. Mel, senior consultant of business consulting firm Frost & Sullivan Nicolas Meilhan pointed out 10 years ago that rare earths will be a major problem for future transportation because any vehicles with electric engines will use REEs.

Electric vehicles require 25 times more rare earth metals than traditional vehicles. They are mainly used as permanent magnet motors and engines. The permanent magnets will rotate in the coils to generate electricity and convert mechanical energy into electrical energy. Permanent magnet materials made of rare earths have 4 to 10 times higher magnetic properties than ordinary permanent magnet materials. The used REEs include neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium, etc.

Experts say the risks involved in the West developing its rare earth production, as the escalating Sino-US tech war and efforts are underway both in the US and elsewhere to bolster alternative sources – are considerable because it takes years to build up the processing skills, plus it is very expensive without considerable government backing. That is why some analysts say the US Defense Department must back alternate production efforts in the US and elsewhere.

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