Midea pulls "mineral partners" with China "decoupled", experts advise the United States to "return common sense and rationality"

[Global Times Special Journalist in the United States Yingchen Global Times reporter Zhao Jueyi Wu Ming] The US State Department announced on the 14th that major partners such as the United States and Canada have established "mineral safety partnerships" (MSP) to strengthen key mineral supply Chain to ensure the supply of key minerals that are vital to clean energy and other technologies. Since the Biden government came to power, the United States has begun to evaluate domestic key minerals and raw materials supply chains, and has continuously tried to promote cooperation with allies and strengthen local processing capabilities to reduce dependence on Chinese products. International experts said in an interview with the Global Times reporter on the 15th that in an era of highly dependence on each other worldwide, instead of instead of pursuing the so -called supply chain "absolute security", it is better Real common safety and common development. This may be a question that American politics should be more concerned.

Establish "Mineral Safety Partnership"

According to a statement issued by the U.S. State Department on the 14th, MSP's goal is to ensure the production, processing and recycling of key minerals to support countries to make full use of its mineral advantages to achieve economic development. In addition to the United States and Canada, MSP partners currently include Australia, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Sweden, Britain and the European Union Commission.

According to Reuters on the 14th, it is expected that the world's demand for minerals such as nickel, lithium and cobalt will increase significantly in the next decades. These minerals are key raw materials for manufacturing batteries, electric vehicles, wind turbines and solar panels, and are also widely used in various products from computers to other household appliances. Fernandez, deputy Secretary of State, in charge of economic growth, energy and environmental affairs in charge of the US State Department, said that the United States will need a large number of above -mentioned key minerals to achieve the target of emission reduction. ","

According to the "fact list" previously released by the White House website, as early as February 2021, the US government signed an administrative order to evaluate the vulnerability of key minerals and raw material supply chains within 100 days. In June last year, the Biden government released an evaluation report on the supply chain for the first time. The report believes that the United States' excessive dependence on "foreign and opponents" has pose a threat to national and economic security in terms of "foreign and rival countries". Globally, China controls most of the processing and refining markets of cobalt, lithium, rare earth and other key minerals. The report recommends cooperating with partners and allies to achieve diversification of sustainable resources and expand the mining, production, processing and recycling of key minerals and raw materials in China. To this end, in February this year, the Bayeng government announced a major investment plan to expand the domestic key mineral supply chain, claiming that the purpose was to break its dependence on China and promote sustainable development.

Worry about ammunition supply chain safe

In the context of Russia and Ukraine's conflict, the United States has recently paid special attention to its dependence on China in the aspects of key minerals. The US "Defense News" reported on the 8th that in the key minerals that are vital to produce ammunition, the United States has almost relying on China in recent years and relying on Russia to a small extent. "Voice of the United States" reported on the 15th that between 2011 and 2015, China produced 75%to 83%of raw materials in the world; by 2021, China is still the world's leading production country, occupying 55 of the world's output 55 %, The high cost of domestic excavation industry and strict environmental protection standards are one of the reasons for its dependence on China. The US Congress Members are taking legislative operations to try to resolve the over -dependence of the United States to China.

According to the "Defense News" report, the US House of Representatives Military Commission has recently sought to strengthen national defense rare earth mineral reserves in the "National Defense Authorization Act" in fiscal 2023. The committee was included in the legislative draft of the "National Defense Authorization Act" in the 2023 fiscal year on Wednesday.

A report attached to the bill requires the head of the US defense reserve to introduce the situation of the committee to the committee before October this year, and at the same time provides these minerals and the five -year outlook of the current and future supply chain fragile. The draft also requires the US Department of Defense to formulate a policy of recycling waste batteries in order to recover "precious metals, rare earth minerals and strategic elements (such as cobalt and lithium) into the US supply chain or strategic reserve". The "Voice of the United States" quoted relevant experts suggesting that in terms of obtaining ore, the United States also needs to strengthen cooperation with Central Asia, especially the supply of the country Tatagiqkistan and Gygisan.

Expert: Anti -China "decoupling" old formula

According to the British "Financial Times" reported on the 14th, the US Department of Defense has signed a $ 120 million agreement with the Australian Lenas Rare Earth Company to build the first batch of heavy soil separation plants in the United States. It is reported that the move is part of the United States' efforts to fight against China in the position of key rare earth supply chain. Due to the rare earth processing plant with no commercial scale, Washington is worried that once the relationship with China has deteriorated further, key rare earth may be interrupted, and under the agreement with Leonus, the production process of rare earth will completely exclude China.

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