China’s Secret Weapon That Could Swing the Trade War

Guest Post by Nick Giambruno via International Man

China

“We’re going to war in the South China Sea… There’s no doubt about that.”

Steve Bannon – previously one of President Trump’s closest political advisers – said these words shortly after Trump became president. He was referring to military conflict between China and the US… one that would likely be the biggest war since WWII.

While these words might seem like hyperbole to many, they touch on something important… arguably the biggest story for the next generation.

Watching the mainstream media circus covering Trump and China gives the impression that once the two sides reach a trade agreement, it will be back to business as usual. But that view completely misses the Big Picture…

The trade war between the US and China was always just a sideshow of a much bigger issue: Who will be the world’s dominant power?

It will be China, or it will be the US.

It can’t be both.

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Xi Sends Trump A Message: Rare-Earth Export Ban Is Coming

Via ZeroHedge

Back in April of 2018, when the trade war with China was still in its early stages, we explained that among the five “nuclear” options Beijing has to retaliate against the US, one was the block of rare-earth exports to the US, potentially crippling countless US supply chains that rely on these rare commodities, and forcing painful and costly delays in US production as alternative supply pathways had to be implemented.

As a result, for many months China watchers expected Beijing to respond to Trump’s tariff hikes by blocking the exports of one or more rare-earths, although fast forwarding one year later this still hasn’t happened. But that doesn’t mean it won’t happen, and overnight President Xi Jinping’s visit to a rare earths facility fueled speculation that the strategic materials will soon be weaponized in China’s tit-for-tat war the US.

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