Thinking About China
Opinion

Chips for Rare Earth: Another Aspect of the US–China Competition

Much in the U.S.–China picture exists outside the tariff confrontation and some seems to be on the verge of resolution.
Chips for Rare Earth: Another Aspect of the US–China Competition
Soil containing various rare earth elements for export at a port in Lianyungang, China, in a file photo. STR/AFP via Getty Images
Milton Ezrati
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Commentary

Drowned out in the on-again, off-again tariff announcements are other important aspects of this ongoing contest between Washington and Beijing. Of great importance is the matter of rare earth elements and advanced computer chips. They may seem unrelated, but in the give-and-take between the United States and China, they were very much linked, and that link may have helped reach something of a resolution on a part of this broad trade dispute.

Milton Ezrati
Milton Ezrati
Author
Milton Ezrati is a contributing editor at The National Interest, an affiliate of the Center for the Study of Human Capital at the University at Buffalo (SUNY), and chief economist for Vested, a New York-based communications firm. Before joining Vested, he served as chief market strategist and economist for Lord, Abbett & Co. He also writes frequently for City Journal and blogs regularly for Forbes. His latest book is "Thirty Tomorrows: The Next Three Decades of Globalization, Demographics, and How We Will Live."