What if its own source of imports are restricted? It is dependent on Australia, Indonesia, Africa and South America for critical mineral imports. A large segment of its import sources are either politically hostile, or geographically distant or economically, and militarily weak. We known China is unable to protect is trade sources, and supply chain if conflict arises. Therefore I dont think China can use this as trump card. However I agree it has certain leverage until a alternate mineral processing capacity has been built outside China.
Chinese Economics Thread
- Thread starter Norfolk
- Start date
didnt CN previosuly halted imports of iron ore from Aus, because of trade currency issue?
It happened in the peacetime. It is very likely that Guinean and Brazilian iron can be easily easily stopped being shipped to China with simple overt or implied threat to these source nations. What tool does China has if its critical mineral imports are interdicted in the Atlantic or Indian ocean? If Chinas export control begins to bite the military industrial complex painfully, there will be some sort of these responses. Bar Brazil, South America has been politically and militarily emasculated so that It would abide by any directives from the DC.
Would land based routes of the BRI help with that? The US would have to threaten a lot of nations and countries and watch a lot of trading lines. If the US can somehow stop everyone who doesn’t have a land border with China from sending their metals to China as a worst case scenario, they still have Russia.
I think Russia can and may eventually be China’s Canada. An enormous resource basket that can provide them with basically anything. Timber, oil, rare earths, metals.
