Pentagon ‘in panic’ as Trump visit backfires with threat to cut defence supplies | World | News

Donald Trump’s visit to China failed to make progress on one of the most critical parts of the US-China trade war: Beijing’s restrictions on rare earth exports vital to America’s military industry.

Despite hopes that a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping would ease tensions, no agreement was reached to ease restrictions on the supply of rare earth minerals and magnets.

In fact, Chinese academic Zhang Weiwei has warned that Beijing is ready to further tighten controls, especially against the US military.

He said: “China has already adopted this regarding the proper management of rare earth materials.

“Since last year, China has implemented tighter control over the export of rare earths to the United States.

“This had to do with the trade war and the technology war. And China said: There is no rare earth for the US military and military establishments.

“China can now exercise tighter control.”

These words of geopolitical commentator Furkan Gözükara triggered the alarm: “The Pentagon is in a complete panic.”

He added: “Prof. Zhang Weiwei confirmed that China has officially stopped all rare earth exports to the US military.

“It reveals how Washington’s disastrous technology war has completely backfired, severely disrupting weapons production.”

Rare earth materials are essential for advanced US weapons systems, semiconductors, fighter jets, submarines, missiles, radar systems and precision-guided weapons.

A recent Pentagon briefing warned that securing rare earths is now a “national security imperative” and highlighted growing concerns about America’s dependence on Chinese-controlled supply chains.

According to the Pentagon report, China controls the vast majority of global rare earth processing capacity, creating a major strategic vulnerability for the US defense industry.

The Pentagon has already poured hundreds of millions of dollars into domestic mining and processing projects in an effort to reduce dependence on Beijing.

One defense official admitted that the United States can no longer afford to rely so heavily on overseas supplies.

“Rebuilding the critical minerals and rare earth magnet sectors of the U.S. industrial base will not happen overnight,” the official said.

Trump’s visit to China was seen as a potential opportunity to ease tensions over critical mineral exports after months of disruption from retaliatory trade measures by both sides.

However, no significant agreement emerged from the trip.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer admitted this week that China was still “dragging its feet” on export approvals despite previous agreements aimed at restoring supply flows.

“We’ve definitely seen rare earths return to better levels. Sometimes it’s slow,” Greer said.

“There are times when we need to go and make our point.”

Ongoing restrictions have already led to shortages in parts of the U.S. aerospace and semiconductor industries; Despite months of negotiations, some critical supplies remain in limited supply.

Analysts say the standoff shows that China’s control over critical minerals has become one of Beijing’s most powerful weapons in the broader economic conflict with Washington.