中美貿易戰中國關稅鎖定美唯一礦企，傳達稀土可當武器訊息
CP-MG 20190523 16:00
資料來源：經濟日報、Financialsense、自由時報
圖片來源：Financialsense、新華網
中國於2019/05/14宣布對美國的關稅報復清單，包含製造電動車所需的稀土。由於美國僅存一家稀土礦企遭懲罰，中方此舉被視為向美方釋出訊息，強調中國在全球稀土供應的重要性與日俱增。
為報復川普政府對中國銷往美國的2000億美元貨品加徵關稅至25％，北京13日宣布，自6月1日起，對已加徵關稅的600億美元美國貨品進一步提高關稅，分別為調高至25％，20％和10％的三部分。其中稅率25％的品項包括稀土金屬礦。
美國目前唯一稀土礦企MP材料公司（MP Materials）礦採，每年出口3000至4000公噸的稀土濃縮物至中國，其中包括電動車的電動機內磁鐵使用的釹和鐠。
由於美國消費者對電動車的需求越來越大，使得美國益發有必要挑戰中國在稀土供應市場的霸位。中國是全球最大稀土產國，產量遙遙領先其他國家。且根據美國地質調查所（ USGS）的數據，美國進口的稀土約80％來自中國。
山隘礦場控股股東JHL資本集團公司（JHL CapitalGroup LLC）執行長李丁斯基（James Litinsky）表示：「精確地說，這是（中國）單方面鎖定美國唯一稀土生產商的關稅措施。」
李丁斯基還說：「我們正在成為一個自給自足的全球稀土產國，我們只是想要一個公平的競爭環境，讓我們能在低成本業者中競爭。」
稀土在現代電子產品中運用廣泛，從智慧手機，電視，吹風機，電動車到油電混合車裡都找得到稀土。
中國對稀土供應的掌控，長久以來對已開發國家的先進產品製造商構成風險。2010年代稍早，美國在內的一些先進國家便向世界貿易組織（WTO）提出申訴，要求中國放寬稀土出口限制。
MP材料公司將半加工的（半加工）稀土礦出口到中國精煉，再用於車輛製造。駐倫敦的彭博NEF（BloombergNEF）分析師麥克瑞契（ColinMcKerracher）指出，中國已成長為全球最大的電動車產國和市場。
美國電動車大廠特斯拉（特斯拉）正在上海郊區加速打造一座價值數十億美元的製造廠，以收割中國持續成長的電動車需求。這座工廠的產量最終可能超越特斯拉的美國廠。
為企業提供稀土和關鍵礦產顧問服務的卡莫特策略集團（Carmot Strategic Group）創辦人麥格羅提（Dan McGroarty）表示：「面對（中國）這些關稅，美國可能將開始採取應對措施，例如對這些至關重要的礦產採取行動，好讓中國在這個時刻的施力點減少。」
「紐約時報」報導，儘管涵蓋17種礦物的稀土其實並不稀有，但要將各別礦物變成有用的材料，程序複雜，繁瑣且成本高昂。
稀土之所以捲入美中貿易衝突中心，正因全球只有2個地方能大規模精煉稀土，分別在中國和澳洲礦企利納斯公司（Lynas Corp.）在馬來西亞關丹（Kuantan）的工廠。
不過，根據研究公司艾達馬斯（阿達姆斯）調查，利納斯只佔2017年全球稀土產量約12％，中國企業則佔超過4/5。
利納斯執行長拉卡茲（Amanda Lacaze）便認為：“若爆發全面貿易戰，我不相信中國不會讓稀土捲入其中。”她說，若中國想藉維持對稀土的關稅或徹底停止出口來限制稀土供應，「他們做得到，實際上一夕間可達成」。
拉卡茲還指出，中國掌控稀土的研發，使其很可能未來一段長時間維持市場優勢。
她表示：「我認為中國約有100位稀土博士正在應用領域工作，並從事技術研發就我所知，你知道中國以外的地方有多少稀土博士？」她用手指比了零。
拉卡茲說，這意味其他國家還得長期仰賴中國供應稀土「這不會嚇到我，但決策官員應該感到害怕。」（譯者：張正芊/核稿：劉學源）。
中國領導人習近平（右二）及副總理劉鶴（左一）巡察江西稀土工廠 圖擷取《新華網》
美中貿易正陷入激戰，美國對中國步步進逼，中國如何反擊，鷹鴿兩派爭論。
不過，昨天中共官方發布一張中國領導人習近平帶著副總理劉鶴巡察江西贛州一家稀土開採工廠的照片後，立即引爆全球新的揣測，懷疑中共正考慮用稀土壟斷來反制美中這場貿易戰。
綜合媒體報導，習近平昨天巡察江西贛州市金力永磁科技股份有限公司，是美中貿易戰升級以來，首次對其國內企業進行考察，同框出現的還有中國副總理劉鶴，他是這次美中貿易談判的中國主談人，兩人一起出現稀土工廠，格外受到矚目。
中國是稀土儲量及產量大國，具有全球壟斷地位，昨天習近平巡察的工廠，就是稀土研究、開發及銷售工廠，稀土也是被認為中國極少數能夠反擊美國的武器之一，習近平此時出巡照片曝光，被指具有警告意味。
美中貿易戰升級以來，中國究竟要如何應對，鷹鴿兩派學者意見僵持不下，鷹派學者如中國人民大學國際關係學院副院長金燦榮，日前發表文章宣稱，中國握有3張對抗美國的王牌，就是美債、稀土、在中國美企。
但鴿派學者看法則認為，美中兩經濟體差距太大，以致中國反擊力道對美國影響不大，反而可能自傷，不如拖延下去。即使祭出稀土牌，美方已與其他稀土國簽訂新合約，暫時降低對中國的依賴，以致稀土牌也未必有效。
不過，昨天中共官方發布一張中國領導人習近平帶著副總理劉鶴巡察江西贛州一家稀土開採工廠的照片後，立即引爆全球新的揣測，懷疑中共正考慮用稀土壟斷來反制美中這場貿易戰。
綜合媒體報導，習近平昨天巡察江西贛州市金力永磁科技股份有限公司，是美中貿易戰升級以來，首次對其國內企業進行考察，同框出現的還有中國副總理劉鶴，他是這次美中貿易談判的中國主談人，兩人一起出現稀土工廠，格外受到矚目。
中國是稀土儲量及產量大國，具有全球壟斷地位，昨天習近平巡察的工廠，就是稀土研究、開發及銷售工廠，稀土也是被認為中國極少數能夠反擊美國的武器之一，習近平此時出巡照片曝光，被指具有警告意味。
美中貿易戰升級以來，中國究竟要如何應對，鷹鴿兩派學者意見僵持不下，鷹派學者如中國人民大學國際關係學院副院長金燦榮，日前發表文章宣稱，中國握有3張對抗美國的王牌，就是美債、稀土、在中國美企。
但鴿派學者看法則認為，美中兩經濟體差距太大，以致中國反擊力道對美國影響不大，反而可能自傷，不如拖延下去。即使祭出稀土牌，美方已與其他稀土國簽訂新合約，暫時降低對中國的依賴，以致稀土牌也未必有效。
www.financialsense.com：
中國最近宣布削減對其他國家的稀土出口，這在國際市場上引起了不小的轟動。這是因為中國生產90％的稀土，並且大部分稀土被工廠開採成可用的化合物。中國目前是世界稀土生產的中心，接替美國在山口“時代”中佔據冠軍。
資料來源：USGS
日本和中國一直在爭奪稀土，主要是因為日本擁有強大的技術經濟，這需要其中許多因素，中國認為國內生產和煉油是中國國家的財產，而不是國際市場。稀土出口的減少使得日本在經濟上處於不穩定的地位，因為它們依靠技術出口來推動經濟發展。例如，豐田普銳斯使用25磅稀土來為其混合動力發動機技術提供動力。沒有稀土，豐田和其他製造商就無法生產出世界所需的混合動力汽車。
美國需要相當多的稀土用於軍事用途。美國軍隊在100多個國家擁有1000個基地，是精確制導炸彈和其他武器的稀土材料的最大用戶之一。特別是美國，中國經濟可以接受稀土，因為我們忽略了自己的稀土生產，並允許中國人在稀土開采和生產方面採取強有力的國際立足點。
美國沒有完成稀土供應鏈所需的分離和生產設施，因此目前任何稀土開採都需要將這些礦物運往中國進行最終加工，然後再返回美國並將其納入軍事和技術應用。與開發國內稀土供應鏈相比，這在經濟上是脆弱的並且成本更高。
'重新開始'
由於美國在很大程度上忽視了在國內開發稀土市場並允許中國壟斷它們，美國國會已經啟動了幾項旨在縮小與中國人之間差距的立法。其中之一就是RESTART計劃，旨在建立一個國內稀土供應鏈，不僅包括勘探和採礦，還包括生產成品稀土元素產品所需的各個生產階段，如汽車，國防，綠色可用於為消費者生產最終產品。
該法案的目的是重建有競爭力的國內稀土礦產業;國內稀土加工，精煉，淨化，金屬生產等行業;國內稀土金屬合金工業;以及美國國內稀土磁鐵生產行業和供應鏈。
眾議院通過的另一項立法，第5136號，要求國防部長“評估稀土材料供應鏈，以確定任何材料是否對國家安全具有戰略性或關鍵性。”該法案要求在180天內完成稀土可持續性報告。該報告必須說明稀土是否具有戰略性，如果是，則制定一項計劃，以便在2015年12月之前長期供應國內稀土供應。
家居用品
那麼問題就變成了，誰擁有這些稀土，我們如何將它們製成成品呢？美國和加拿大的利益所擁有的存款有幾處。 Molycorp擁有Mountain Pass稀土礦的權利，該礦主要生產輕稀土。山口有大量的這些稀土，如果中國選擇在將來保留所有本地稀土產量，美國將不會挨餓。
資料來源：美國稀土和材料
美國缺乏的是重稀土，這對軍事和核應用至關重要。目前，美國將不得不與加拿大公司合作，以獲得我們所需的重稀土元素。
加拿大
加拿大公司擁有大量稀土。我描述了加拿大對稀土投資潛力的興趣很大......如果你有耐心的話。這些礦工擁有輕稀土和重稀土，並不斷探索其他稀土礦床。美國製造商需要與這些公司保持關係，以獲得關鍵的稀土供應。
美國重稀土
根據長期的行業分析師和顧問傑克·利夫頓的說法，愛達荷州的鑽石溪擁有非常高濃度的稀土，其中包括足以供應美國的重稀土。德克薩斯稀土資源公司聲稱在德克薩斯州Hudspeth縣的Round Top山可能存在大量重稀土。最後，加拿大公司Ucore cl
原文：
China has recently announced cutbacks in rare earth exports to other nations, which has caused quite a stir in the international markets. This is because China produces 90% of rare earths, and processes most of the rare earths mined into usable compounds by their factories. China is very much the current hub of rare earth production for the world, succeeding the United States which use to hold that crown in the Mountain Pass 'era'.
Source: USGS
Japan and China have been sparring over rare earths mainly because Japan has a strong technology economy which requires many of these elements, and China views domestic production and refining as the property of the Chinese state, and not of international markets. The reduction in rare earth exports puts Japan in a precarious position economically as they rely on technology exports to fuel their economy. As an example, the Toyota Prius uses 25 pounds of rare earths to power their hybrid engine technology. Without rare earths, Toyota and other manufacturers cannot produce the hybrid cars that the world wants.
The United States requires quite a bit of rare earths for military applications. With 1000 bases in over 100 countries, the US military is one of the largest users of rare earth materials for precision guided bombs and other weaponry. The US is, in particular, succeptible to rare earth hording by the Chinese economy because we have ignored our own rare earth production and allowed the Chinese to take strong international footholds in rare earth mining and production.
The United States does not possess the separation and production facilities needed to complete the rare earth supply chain, so any current rare earth mining requires shipping those minerals to China for final processing before returning to the US for incorporation into military and technology applications. This is both economically vulnerable and more costly than developing a domestic rare earth supply chain.
'RESTART'
As a consequence of the fact the US has largely ignored developing rare earth markets domestically and has allowed China to monopolize them, The US Congress has intiated several pieces of legislation aimed at closing the gap with the Chinese. One of these is the RESTART initiative which is aimed at building a domestic rare earth supply chain that incorporates not only exploration and mining, but the various stages of production required to produce a finished rare earth element product that industries such as the auto, defense, and green can use in producing end products to their consumers.
The purpose of the bill is To reestablish a competitive domestic rare earths minerals production industry; a domestic rare earth processing, refining, purification, and metals production industry; a domestic rare earth metals alloying industry; and a domestic rare earth based magnet production industry and supply chain in the United States.
Another piece of legislation passed by the House, H.R. 5136, calls for the Secretary of Defense to "assess the rare earth material supply chain to determine if any of the materials were strategic or critical to national security." The bill required a report on rare earth sustainability to be completed within 180 days. The report had to state whether rare earths were strategic, and if so, to develop a plan for long term availability of of a domestic supply of rare earths by December 2015.
Domestic Supplies
So then the question becomes, who has these rare earths and how do we manufacture them into a finished product? There are several deposits in the US owned by US and Canadian interests. Molycorp owns rights to the Mountain Pass rare earth mine, which produces mostly light rare earths. Mountain Pass has significant amounts of these rare earths such that the US will not starve if China chooses to keep all of their local rare earth production in the future as it appears they intend to.
Source: American Rare Earth and Materials
What the US lacks are heavy rare earths, which are critical to military and nuclear applications. For the time being, the US will have to work with Canadian companies to obtain the heavy rare earth elements we need.
Canada
Canadian companies have significant holdings of rare earths. I profiled Canadian interests in Rare earth investment potential is great ... if you are patient. These miners have both light and heavy rare earth holdings and are continually exploring additional rare earth deposits. The US manufacturers need to maintain relationships with these firms to have access to critical rare earth supplies.
US Heavy Rare Earths
According to Jack Lifton, longtime industry analyst and consultant, Diamond Creek in Idaho has a very high concentration of rare earths, including heavy rare earths that would be sufficient to supply the US for the time being. Texas Rare Earth Resources is claiming a potential large concentration of heavy rare earth at Round Top Mountain in Hudspeth County in Texas. Lastly, Canadian company Ucore cl
中國最近宣布削減對其他國家的稀土出口，這在國際市場上引起了不小的轟動。這是因為中國生產90％的稀土，並且大部分稀土被工廠開採成可用的化合物。中國目前是世界稀土生產的中心，接替美國在山口“時代”中佔據冠軍。
資料來源：USGS
日本和中國一直在爭奪稀土，主要是因為日本擁有強大的技術經濟，這需要其中許多因素，中國認為國內生產和煉油是中國國家的財產，而不是國際市場。稀土出口的減少使得日本在經濟上處於不穩定的地位，因為它們依靠技術出口來推動經濟發展。例如，豐田普銳斯使用25磅稀土來為其混合動力發動機技術提供動力。沒有稀土，豐田和其他製造商就無法生產出世界所需的混合動力汽車。
美國需要相當多的稀土用於軍事用途。美國軍隊在100多個國家擁有1000個基地，是精確制導炸彈和其他武器的稀土材料的最大用戶之一。特別是美國，中國經濟可以接受稀土，因為我們忽略了自己的稀土生產，並允許中國人在稀土開采和生產方面採取強有力的國際立足點。
美國沒有完成稀土供應鏈所需的分離和生產設施，因此目前任何稀土開採都需要將這些礦物運往中國進行最終加工，然後再返回美國並將其納入軍事和技術應用。與開發國內稀土供應鏈相比，這在經濟上是脆弱的並且成本更高。
'重新開始'
由於美國在很大程度上忽視了在國內開發稀土市場並允許中國壟斷它們，美國國會已經啟動了幾項旨在縮小與中國人之間差距的立法。其中之一就是RESTART計劃，旨在建立一個國內稀土供應鏈，不僅包括勘探和採礦，還包括生產成品稀土元素產品所需的各個生產階段，如汽車，國防，綠色可用於為消費者生產最終產品。
該法案的目的是重建有競爭力的國內稀土礦產業;國內稀土加工，精煉，淨化，金屬生產等行業;國內稀土金屬合金工業;以及美國國內稀土磁鐵生產行業和供應鏈。
眾議院通過的另一項立法，第5136號，要求國防部長“評估稀土材料供應鏈，以確定任何材料是否對國家安全具有戰略性或關鍵性。”該法案要求在180天內完成稀土可持續性報告。該報告必須說明稀土是否具有戰略性，如果是，則制定一項計劃，以便在2015年12月之前長期供應國內稀土供應。
家居用品
那麼問題就變成了，誰擁有這些稀土，我們如何將它們製成成品呢？美國和加拿大的利益所擁有的存款有幾處。 Molycorp擁有Mountain Pass稀土礦的權利，該礦主要生產輕稀土。山口有大量的這些稀土，如果中國選擇在將來保留所有本地稀土產量，美國將不會挨餓。
資料來源：美國稀土和材料
美國缺乏的是重稀土，這對軍事和核應用至關重要。目前，美國將不得不與加拿大公司合作，以獲得我們所需的重稀土元素。
加拿大
加拿大公司擁有大量稀土。我描述了加拿大對稀土投資潛力的興趣很大......如果你有耐心的話。這些礦工擁有輕稀土和重稀土，並不斷探索其他稀土礦床。美國製造商需要與這些公司保持關係，以獲得關鍵的稀土供應。
美國重稀土
根據長期的行業分析師和顧問傑克·利夫頓的說法，愛達荷州的鑽石溪擁有非常高濃度的稀土，其中包括足以供應美國的重稀土。德克薩斯稀土資源公司聲稱在德克薩斯州Hudspeth縣的Round Top山可能存在大量重稀土。最後，加拿大公司Ucore cl
原文：
China has recently announced cutbacks in rare earth exports to other nations, which has caused quite a stir in the international markets. This is because China produces 90% of rare earths, and processes most of the rare earths mined into usable compounds by their factories. China is very much the current hub of rare earth production for the world, succeeding the United States which use to hold that crown in the Mountain Pass 'era'.
Source: USGS
Japan and China have been sparring over rare earths mainly because Japan has a strong technology economy which requires many of these elements, and China views domestic production and refining as the property of the Chinese state, and not of international markets. The reduction in rare earth exports puts Japan in a precarious position economically as they rely on technology exports to fuel their economy. As an example, the Toyota Prius uses 25 pounds of rare earths to power their hybrid engine technology. Without rare earths, Toyota and other manufacturers cannot produce the hybrid cars that the world wants.
The United States requires quite a bit of rare earths for military applications. With 1000 bases in over 100 countries, the US military is one of the largest users of rare earth materials for precision guided bombs and other weaponry. The US is, in particular, succeptible to rare earth hording by the Chinese economy because we have ignored our own rare earth production and allowed the Chinese to take strong international footholds in rare earth mining and production.
The United States does not possess the separation and production facilities needed to complete the rare earth supply chain, so any current rare earth mining requires shipping those minerals to China for final processing before returning to the US for incorporation into military and technology applications. This is both economically vulnerable and more costly than developing a domestic rare earth supply chain.
'RESTART'
As a consequence of the fact the US has largely ignored developing rare earth markets domestically and has allowed China to monopolize them, The US Congress has intiated several pieces of legislation aimed at closing the gap with the Chinese. One of these is the RESTART initiative which is aimed at building a domestic rare earth supply chain that incorporates not only exploration and mining, but the various stages of production required to produce a finished rare earth element product that industries such as the auto, defense, and green can use in producing end products to their consumers.
The purpose of the bill is To reestablish a competitive domestic rare earths minerals production industry; a domestic rare earth processing, refining, purification, and metals production industry; a domestic rare earth metals alloying industry; and a domestic rare earth based magnet production industry and supply chain in the United States.
Another piece of legislation passed by the House, H.R. 5136, calls for the Secretary of Defense to "assess the rare earth material supply chain to determine if any of the materials were strategic or critical to national security." The bill required a report on rare earth sustainability to be completed within 180 days. The report had to state whether rare earths were strategic, and if so, to develop a plan for long term availability of of a domestic supply of rare earths by December 2015.
Domestic Supplies
So then the question becomes, who has these rare earths and how do we manufacture them into a finished product? There are several deposits in the US owned by US and Canadian interests. Molycorp owns rights to the Mountain Pass rare earth mine, which produces mostly light rare earths. Mountain Pass has significant amounts of these rare earths such that the US will not starve if China chooses to keep all of their local rare earth production in the future as it appears they intend to.
Source: American Rare Earth and Materials
What the US lacks are heavy rare earths, which are critical to military and nuclear applications. For the time being, the US will have to work with Canadian companies to obtain the heavy rare earth elements we need.
Canada
Canadian companies have significant holdings of rare earths. I profiled Canadian interests in Rare earth investment potential is great ... if you are patient. These miners have both light and heavy rare earth holdings and are continually exploring additional rare earth deposits. The US manufacturers need to maintain relationships with these firms to have access to critical rare earth supplies.
US Heavy Rare Earths
According to Jack Lifton, longtime industry analyst and consultant, Diamond Creek in Idaho has a very high concentration of rare earths, including heavy rare earths that would be sufficient to supply the US for the time being. Texas Rare Earth Resources is claiming a potential large concentration of heavy rare earth at Round Top Mountain in Hudspeth County in Texas. Lastly, Canadian company Ucore cl