Today, I'll keep it short. According to the White House website, on April 24, Trump signed an executive order aimed at "developing critical minerals and resources in the U.S. offshore areas" to re-establish America's dominance in the field of deep-sea minerals. Most of the world's seabeds are rich in polymetallic nodules. These nodule-like objects, the size of potatoes, are formed over millions of years under high pressure on the seafloor and are rich in metals such as nickel, cobalt, copper, and manganese. These metals are essential raw materials for manufacturing electric vehicle batteries, military equipment, and high-tech products. The White House stated that these minerals are expected to be used for defense, resources, infrastructure, and energy purposes, and the U.S. hopes to lead China in the field of seabed resources. By the way, just a while ago, Trump was talking about developing the metal nodules in the Pacific seabed. Now it seems he's choosing a more distant option. But why did he sign this executive order?
American media say it's because ever since we implemented export controls on rare earths to the U.S., Americans suddenly realized that their industry, especially the military industry, simply can't do without rare earths, and they hardly have any reserves! You see, from smartphone screens to stealth fighters, from MRI machines to intercontinental missiles, these 17 metals hidden in the corners of the periodic table are causing collective sleepless nights for White House officials. So Trump is in an awkward situation: The trade war has escalated to this extent. Can he surrender to us now just because of rare earths? No way! Because it's clear that in any war, the victor's demands on the vanquished are always very harsh. Since surrender is not an option, there's only one Chinese saying left: "Treat a dead horse as if it were alive." The fact that Trump is considering mining the seabed shows just how desperate he is. But will his desperation work? The answer is: No. Because the key to rare earths is not in mining but in refining. In fact, America's allies, such as Australia and Canada, and even the U.S. itself, are not short of rare earth resources.
Seabed mining is far more complex and costly than land mining! And China holds a very strong ace in rare earths: 92% of the world's refined rare earths come from China. Even if the U.S. could mine rare earths on its own, it would still have to transport them thousands of miles to China for refining. This is not just a simple resource bottleneck but a full-chain dominance from mines to laboratories. What makes Americans even more restless is the ion-type medium and heavy rare earth deposits, which are mainly found in our southern regions. For example, in the hills of Ganzhou, Jiangxi, there are elements like dysprosium and terbium, which are essential for missile guidance systems. At this point, some might say: The Americans have money. Can't they just throw money at building a rare earth industry? Some in the U.S. are indeed proposing to invest $13 billion to build a rare earth supply chain, only to find out that China has been accumulating technical expertise in rare earth separation for 30 years. This is not something money can buy. Moreover, even if the U.S. builds factories, it won't be able to assemble a team of engineers proficient in rare earth separation. How to put it? It's still that old saying: The U.S. may decide when to start a war, but when the war ends is up to us!
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