China has near global monopolies on these exports, accounting for 98% of global gallium production, 93% of germanium production, and 49% of antimony production.
Not sure if this will help prevent war or accelerate war.
If I gather anything from the more knowledgable people in the comments it is that the US needn’t worry, because these resources aren’t just exported by China, but also by Russia and no one else in the world. So they just need to cash in those years of Russian goodwill they’ve built up and this shouldn’t be a problem.
Well 2/3 of the comments here a jokes barely talking about the issue so idk.
Imo is if American tariffs and sanctions didn’t work back in 2022 why should it work for anyone else? China isn’t about to police world trade flows in order to make sure these exports wont end up in the US. In practical terms this is just incentivizing the black market supply for it. You should rather temper your expectations that this will actualy have a meaningful long term effect at all.
Yes NATO artillery stocks are low but clearly the US doesn’t give a fuck about it given the Ukrainian missile escalation this recently so its one of those things that technicaly ought to matter but in reality doesn’t at all. Yeah Ukraine is even more assured to not get more supplies and that changes nothing given they lost this war years ago already.
I think this is an apples and oranges situation. China is not sanctioning or tariffing, they are banning exports of specific items for industries that their government is entirely in control of. The US can say tarrifs this and sanctions that but the private companies can do whatever they want, the US has no real power over them. China has unilateral control over these minerals and nearly every nation that trades with them has a strong incentive to not only follow whatever boundaries China sets for the minerals, but many of these nations are probably also happy to to comply because they don’t have good relationships with the US either. If any one is middle manning them to the US, China is approving it, and I’d bet that if they say not to, it won’t happen.
If anything I’d be worried about nations like Bolivia who also have some of these metals because the US could be more incentivized to destabilize them for mineral access.
Are you telling me that being blindly antagonistic in every corner of the globe simultaneously actually has consequences? Because that sounds like Russian disinformation.
No, it will be fine. Considering how much of the Earth’s surface is taken up by Israel and Taiwan I’m sure there is an endless supply of rare earth minerals to go around.
I honestly believe it is the intent of the US to go nuclear and destroy the advanced economies of the world to recreate the post world war 2 order where the rest of the world is in ruins except their shining city on a hill
DPRK will get trigger happy with their nukes if the US gets too close to doing this
Antimony is a rare earth mineral needed for the production of all modern artillery shells. The US has no antimony mines. China controls its extraction and owns like 90% of the mines in Hunan province. Other mines are located in Russia and South Africa. Bolivia is the second highest producer behind China. Pretty much no other nation produces it. That’s it. Four countries.
Bolivia is the second highest producer behind China
Aw fuck. Looks like we’ll start seeing mass protests in Santa Cruz
: 2025 surprise is 
and 
invading Bolivia to seize antimony productionYeah they surely will try again something.
While Antimony is certainly rare (contextually) and an earth mineral, using those terms are incorrect in the greater sense - One shouldn’t confuse it (as another reply did) for a ‘rare-earth metal’ or rare-earth element (REE) which is a wholly different group of elements with geo-political contexts.
Antimony is a metalloid (not quite a metal) and is about as scarce as silver, tin and iodine in the Earth’s crust.
Thanks for the context. Additionally, whether or not a metal is rare is a lot less important as to whether or not it can be found in concentrations good enough for extraction on an industrial scale. That’s where Hunan province comes in. They got the mines with the concentrations to make it worthwhile and they’ve got the economic and political willpower to get those mines running because it’s what they need. For that to happen in America we’d literally need to fully fund these publicly but of course we’d keep any profits private. Think of all the corruption and inefficiency you can imagine and there you’d have it.
The US national stock pile is set to be depleted in 2025.
It’s fucking crazy such a simple weapon hasn’t been simplified in its supply chain demand for over 100 years. Antimony is literally used to harden the metal casings of the shells. That’s fucking it. Seriously. That’s fucking it. For 100 years the greatest most capitalisticalist empire on earth couldn’t figure out how to more sustainably harden artillery shells without using a rare earth metal.
It’s also a component for stable and reliable fuses.
But yeah, I agree. You’d think there would be other options. There probably are. But in America’s hubris they most likely presumed they could just bully anyone into being suppliers for these materials.
most capitalisticalist
I think that answers the question. The US has been perfectly fine exploiting other countries to get it for that amount of time and thus has no reason to do anything else
Ironically this isn’t the first time it’s had this problem. Japan stopped giving it to them around WW2.
Antimony is a rare earth mineral needed for the production of all modern artillery shells.
looked this up to find out what it goes into and apparently it is the best hardener for alloying lead
Also is a component for stable and reliable fuses.
Really cool and good how we as a country have imperial boomerang’ed so hard that this country is choosing to selectively cherry-pick to have all the bad of the free-market with none of the good.
Economics is when you have blind faith cult adherence to the money line, right?
thats definitely the US econ department
I mean, yes, basically.
If the tariffs on solar panels are any indication, this is just going to be an economic stimulus for China’s neighbors, who will be able to sell Chinese minerals to the US at what I at least hope will be a generous markup.
That’s exactly what is going to happen lmao the U.S. acts like it can do to China what it does to Cuba. Too late for that no buddy, you sent all of your production there!
It’s like I’m taking crazy pills! Why are you fucking with our manufacture base?! We have no alternative!! We need to replace them before we fuck with them.
Never interrupt your enemy while they are in the process of making a mistake
Same thing happened with honey. Suddenly Vietnam’s honey exports magically increased to more than their domestic production. Of course nobody cared because it’s all theater.
I don’t know if it’s obvious to folks here or not but these are common for doping silicon chips so they can work as computers. Similarly useful for solar panels.
If US chip companies don’t have substantial backup stocks they’re screwed.
so we’re locked in for WW3 then?
MoA on this
Mirror Action - China To Block ‘Dual Use’ Exports To U.S. War Mongers | Moon of Alabama
this post has been certified brainworm-free by trans-comrade-loving hexbear patriots ✅
Whoever has the other 2% of the gallium supply sweating rn
Its Russia lmao and they account for >50% of remaining gallium production
The remaining 1% be sweating then.
The UK
Invade the UK invade the UK invade the UK
Wanna guess who the second biggest (although massively behind obviously) is…?
spoiler
Called gallium
Mostly found in China
Please invade
all the same
The hermit kingdom of America baby let’s keep the isolation going!
So this means we’ll stop being an empire right?
It’s not what they expect, but yes
Now watch
invade some random African Country which has these resources.They dont export these resources. Anitmony can be found in primarily in Russia, but also Myanmar & Bolivia (and Australia), Gallium in Ukraine/Russia, Slovakia as well as the UK lol, and Germanium in Russia and Northumberland
Australia
No need to fear, Americans, we are as always standing ready to be your imperial lapdog
I just posted this. Antimony is not extracted in any real significant numbers outside of Russia, South Africa, Bolvia, and China. China alone produces over 90% of it. Hunan province is the jackpot on the stuff. Bolivia is the second biggest producer at just under 5%. Russia and South Africa produce about 1-2%. That’s it. Some countries have strategic stores of it and some have a small mine here or there that is used purely for themselves because it is all they have. The US has 0 antimony mines currently. The US could waive environmental concerns and heavily subsidize a mine or two but it won’t meet the needs of the military to produce the munitions which require it, like artillery shells.
and beyond that, as far as I know it takes several years to get a mine up and running. so even then you are looking at a few years of the empire not producing any shells or at least producing them at insane cost markups
Propably not as much a problem as one would think. The US is aiming for China next, that will be mostly a sea and air war. No conventional artillery needed.
Sounds like they’ll have to give up on Ukraine though.
That’s where the European vassals come in. Western Ukraine will propably get de-facto occupied by them while the east is dropped. Keeps the conflict frozen, the euros paying, Russia occupied and the US free for fresh warcrimes.
Western Ukraine is useless, besides the black earth. All the resources are in the parts that are or will be under russia soon.
not doubting you, but for the sake of sourcing can i get some links for this
What do you need sources for exactly? Who produces what? That the US has no antimony mines of it’s own? All this information comes from disparate sources but is easily verifiable through simple searches.
Gallium in Ukraine/Russia, Slovakia as well as the UK lol, and Germanium in Russia and Northumberland
Whoever named these needs to check a map next time!
In other words, the US can still get those materials via their colonies in europe and australia.
gallium
germanium
it would be really funny if china just started referring to e*ropean countries as if they were provinces of the roman empire again
Death to America
Wtf France has two elements named after it? That’s bs
There’s a tiny village in Sweden with 4 elements named after it.
there is a place in f*nland called bear’s asshole. it is in no way the only place w/ a name like this. why yes i have in fact experienced schlong lake.
js the country is a shit hole BUT having just one scientific thing named after a bizarre location there would do a lil bit to redeem it maybe
this is also the only redeeming feature of terf island, it has an unlimited quantity of extremely rude place names.
but then again, there is a place in spain that basically translates as “the fuck”, as in the act of fucking
In Denmark there is a town whose name can be translated as “dick”. The next town over is named “intestine”. If you drive south you can cross the border to Germany in a village named “semen”. Don’t go north though or you might end up in the joyful village literally named “darkness”, you will have a better time in “beer place”.
And for some reason English-speakers seems to think the town of Middelfart has a funny name.
And for some reason English-speakers seems to think the town of Middelfart has a funny name
there was a fairly popular hang out spot near where i grew up called “horny rock.” not sure if it’s like as in heat that animals experience or uhhh due to it being a long standing gathering point for hormonal teenagers
In Poland there is a city called “Police” but it’s not related to police, it means “fields” in archaic Polish. There are also (in translation): Butts, Hell, Upper Hell, Lower Hell, Not Hell, Cold Vodka, Tomcats, Rotten Mud, Dry Dogmeat, Sea, Givemehere, Frogeaters, Old Godhelp, Pisswolf, Curses, Krauts, Brothels, Small Village at Road, Scrotum, Old Forest Heroes, Box, Treason, Bad Meat, Horsehammers, Death, Anthrax Colony, Noname, Females, Street, Small Jumps, Big Jumps, and so on (granted, some of them are old as fuck and only funny because language changed and words changed meaning, for example this anthrax place originally meant Coal Colony).
for example this anthrax place originally meant Coal Colony).
this immediately made me think about anthracite
Anthracite, also known as hard coal and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic lustre.
Hell, Upper Hell, Lower Hell, Not Hell,
Pisswolf
dirt_owl’s long lost home
You haven’t experienced memorable place names until you’ve visited Newfoundland & Labrador. Come By Chance, Witless Bay, Dildo, Ferryland, Blow Me Down, Joe Batt’s Arm, Leading Tickles, Placentia, Cupids, Happy Adventure, lots of fun names.
Ytterby?
Yeah
My personal historical revisionism is thay Gallium was actually named after chickens and not Fr*nce
Is it historical revisionism if it was claimed at the time? Lecoq was accused of naming it after the Latin translation of his own name (Gallum, Cock) and though he denied it, it was never disproven.
Bro was really named Lecoq like wtf how is that not a sigma level troll
Let’s bringing back “satellite states” to refer to US vassals.
Pff anglos already do.
Trump: “Make America analogue again!”
All the analogcels screeching that they can’t get their germanium diodes
RIP boutique fuzz pedal industry
I’ve got three diodes. About to list them on Reverb for like $5k each.
if they ban the export of vacuum tubes too the entire guitar industrial complex will be on its knees
Don’t worry, all those dentists will still have their Harley Davidson motorcycles to spend their money on.
BRB, about to buy all the tubes I can (like five) to sell to desperate tube-o-philes as I crank my digital amp
Real abacus hours
This is the response to Biden’s tariffs! Trump looking at this and going “More!”
