Among the five “nuclear” options that Zero Hedge says China currently has at its disposal to fight back, the most impactful would appear to be a rare earths embargo – which means no more smartphones, laptop computers, solar panels, electric car batteries, or wind turbines, among other “cutting-edge” products. Rare earth minerals, in case you don’t know, are a necessary component in the manufacture of many high-tech products that millions of people today rely on for “survival.”
And since China currently supplies around 80 percent of them to the U.S. market, an export ban would significantly decrease the supply of these products while massively increasing their cost, if not create unprecedented shortages...read more>>>...
