As in so many cases, the ruling elites in both political parties conspired with powerful business interests to undermine the U.S. national interest. Not a big surprise.
Many of us saw this coming back in the 90s when they first started outsourcing IT jobs. I always wondered why we didn’t hold at least a little back so we didn’t forget how to do things. Supply chains, like physical structures, have weak points. For decades, our supply chains have had a single point of failure. We need to literally re-engineer them. Efficiency and resilience don’t always go well together, and maybe we’ve learned we were aiming at the wrong one all this time. Also worth noting: actions taken to increase resilience also tend to increase agility.
An appalling situation but really it is everything. There is one small city in China that produces 90% of the world's buttons. We can't even close up our clothes much less make advanced magnets or, just as worrisome pharmaceuticals. Free trade is more efficient but autarchy is safer.
Americans political leaders have always known Lenin’s statement was true “the capitalists will sell us the rope we will use to hang them” but Democracies run on virtue and when you start running low on virtue then you start selling rope faster. (Bill Clinton and Bernard Schwartz on ballistic missile tech).
The American government has the largest budget in the world and spends more on our military than any other country. Our lack of access to rare earth minerals has been public news for 25 years.
Around 2006 the military sold off it's entire stockpile of rare earth minerals and in 2010 China very publicly used rare earth metals to punish the Japanese. Yet here we are in 2025 and and we have done little to correct this. What's the back up plan in a war with China? Throw copies of Milton Friedman's "Freedom and Capitalism" at them?
The Constitution doesn't ask much of our extremely expensive political system, but in the preamble it mentions providing for the common defense.
I understand being a politician is about long lunches with lobbyist, making tick tock videos screaming at someone to "own" the other party to raise money, but perhaps sometime between sweetheart real estate deals and insider trading our politicians could put in 20 minutes a day to avoid a fiasco like this that's been coming in slow motion for 25 years.
Every member of the house and senate should be fired for this blatant dereliction of duty against their country.
Focusing on rare earths is a red herring. Disconnecting trade from mutual defense and rule of law is the problem. Trying to go after things peace meal rather then fundamental charges in attitude and law will only fuel corruption.
I don’t like government owned business but when it comes to strategic materials, we need an exception. Most of our defense plants are “owned” by the government but operated by the private sector. We need to do the same with rare earths. Spent a couple billion on a new processing plant. Reduce ridiculous environmental regulations on rare earth mining in the US by invoking military necessity. Make the rare earth minerals available to the commercial market but with defense getting first dibs. I assume many of our ally’s would also prefer a non-Chinese supply.
Our "elites," are not particularly talented, except in the world of politics. Fortunately Trump does not come from that world. His recognition and confrontation of Chinese mercantilism is long overdue. In the future, rather than politicians, perhaps we need folks who are more talented builders, managers and strategists. Whether its Mamdani or Newsom, we aren't going to succeed if we are led by folks who have no experience in the business or engineering worlds.
The Magnequench story is the blueprint for how China systematically dismantled America's defense industrial base, and companies like RTX are now completely dependnt on Beijing for the rare earth magnets in Patriot guidance systems and AMRAAM targeting computers. When you say we're 100% reliant on Chinese components for defense supply chains, that's literally RTX's quarterly filings acknowledging supply chain vulnerabilities while doing nothing because switching suppliers costs money. The Pentagon buying from RTX who buys from China is national security theater.
Such sturm und drang toward China from the fine Senator. Perhaps he could weigh in on Don’s pardon of CZ, the Chinese crypto criminal who pled guilty to laundering money for Hamas and other terrorist groups? It seems relevant, given that the pardon followed CZ facilitating the investment of a couple billion into Don’s stable coin. I guess this is the “new” right’s version of trickle down economics… In a normal world, Banks would be calling for an investigation of this corruption, as he did with Hunter’s selling of bad art on Dad’s name:) But alas, the Article 1 branch has laid down. Apparently he trusts Don to put America, not his personal piggy bank, first.
Meanwhile, how about Banks opinion on the “new” rights continued dalliance with socialism. After the Intel and Nvidia deals, and the golden share in US Steel, we now have the new deal with Westinghouse for construction of nuclear plants. Make sure to bone up on the details of all these “new” right deals, where the federal government is taking ownership stakes in private companies, sharing in future profits etc. One might call it, seizing the means of production:) We’ve come a long way from the right wing wailing about Solyndra:) It’s truly the horseshoe phenomenon where far right meets far left, Don is making Bernie, AOC, and Oren proud.
I’m not holding my breath for a peep from Mr Banks. Like his fellow establishment elites in control of the entire federal government, his main interest is in pleasing Mr Trump.
As in so many cases, the ruling elites in both political parties conspired with powerful business interests to undermine the U.S. national interest. Not a big surprise.
Many of us saw this coming back in the 90s when they first started outsourcing IT jobs. I always wondered why we didn’t hold at least a little back so we didn’t forget how to do things. Supply chains, like physical structures, have weak points. For decades, our supply chains have had a single point of failure. We need to literally re-engineer them. Efficiency and resilience don’t always go well together, and maybe we’ve learned we were aiming at the wrong one all this time. Also worth noting: actions taken to increase resilience also tend to increase agility.
An appalling situation but really it is everything. There is one small city in China that produces 90% of the world's buttons. We can't even close up our clothes much less make advanced magnets or, just as worrisome pharmaceuticals. Free trade is more efficient but autarchy is safer.
Americans political leaders have always known Lenin’s statement was true “the capitalists will sell us the rope we will use to hang them” but Democracies run on virtue and when you start running low on virtue then you start selling rope faster. (Bill Clinton and Bernard Schwartz on ballistic missile tech).
The American government has the largest budget in the world and spends more on our military than any other country. Our lack of access to rare earth minerals has been public news for 25 years.
Around 2006 the military sold off it's entire stockpile of rare earth minerals and in 2010 China very publicly used rare earth metals to punish the Japanese. Yet here we are in 2025 and and we have done little to correct this. What's the back up plan in a war with China? Throw copies of Milton Friedman's "Freedom and Capitalism" at them?
The Constitution doesn't ask much of our extremely expensive political system, but in the preamble it mentions providing for the common defense.
I understand being a politician is about long lunches with lobbyist, making tick tock videos screaming at someone to "own" the other party to raise money, but perhaps sometime between sweetheart real estate deals and insider trading our politicians could put in 20 minutes a day to avoid a fiasco like this that's been coming in slow motion for 25 years.
Every member of the house and senate should be fired for this blatant dereliction of duty against their country.
Focusing on rare earths is a red herring. Disconnecting trade from mutual defense and rule of law is the problem. Trying to go after things peace meal rather then fundamental charges in attitude and law will only fuel corruption.
I don’t like government owned business but when it comes to strategic materials, we need an exception. Most of our defense plants are “owned” by the government but operated by the private sector. We need to do the same with rare earths. Spent a couple billion on a new processing plant. Reduce ridiculous environmental regulations on rare earth mining in the US by invoking military necessity. Make the rare earth minerals available to the commercial market but with defense getting first dibs. I assume many of our ally’s would also prefer a non-Chinese supply.
Our "elites," are not particularly talented, except in the world of politics. Fortunately Trump does not come from that world. His recognition and confrontation of Chinese mercantilism is long overdue. In the future, rather than politicians, perhaps we need folks who are more talented builders, managers and strategists. Whether its Mamdani or Newsom, we aren't going to succeed if we are led by folks who have no experience in the business or engineering worlds.
Old Grand Party (OGP).
The Magnequench story is the blueprint for how China systematically dismantled America's defense industrial base, and companies like RTX are now completely dependnt on Beijing for the rare earth magnets in Patriot guidance systems and AMRAAM targeting computers. When you say we're 100% reliant on Chinese components for defense supply chains, that's literally RTX's quarterly filings acknowledging supply chain vulnerabilities while doing nothing because switching suppliers costs money. The Pentagon buying from RTX who buys from China is national security theater.
Correct.
I remember talking to people about Rare Earths, in 1982. At the time, the biggest problem was that there were no "pure play" investments.
:-)
Such sturm und drang toward China from the fine Senator. Perhaps he could weigh in on Don’s pardon of CZ, the Chinese crypto criminal who pled guilty to laundering money for Hamas and other terrorist groups? It seems relevant, given that the pardon followed CZ facilitating the investment of a couple billion into Don’s stable coin. I guess this is the “new” right’s version of trickle down economics… In a normal world, Banks would be calling for an investigation of this corruption, as he did with Hunter’s selling of bad art on Dad’s name:) But alas, the Article 1 branch has laid down. Apparently he trusts Don to put America, not his personal piggy bank, first.
Meanwhile, how about Banks opinion on the “new” rights continued dalliance with socialism. After the Intel and Nvidia deals, and the golden share in US Steel, we now have the new deal with Westinghouse for construction of nuclear plants. Make sure to bone up on the details of all these “new” right deals, where the federal government is taking ownership stakes in private companies, sharing in future profits etc. One might call it, seizing the means of production:) We’ve come a long way from the right wing wailing about Solyndra:) It’s truly the horseshoe phenomenon where far right meets far left, Don is making Bernie, AOC, and Oren proud.
I’m not holding my breath for a peep from Mr Banks. Like his fellow establishment elites in control of the entire federal government, his main interest is in pleasing Mr Trump.
Good luck America.