Don’t expect China to compromise on rare earth controls at Apec

China is unlikely to ease its recently imposed export controls on rare earth materials despite potential discussions between President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump at the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit later this month. China may increase supplies for civilian industries if the US eases its policies following a trade truce agreed upon earlier in Geneva, Switzerland. However, the US is expected to resume economic tensions with China once it cannot secure sufficient rare earth materials for its weapons industry. This marks China's first major counter-attack in the ongoing trade war by adopting US-style extraterritorial controls on rare earth products and technologies. The US aims to weaken China without significant self-damage, but this strategy has a limited lifespan as evidenced by the precarious state of US economic bubbles and its tech war against China.

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