今年上半年，特朗普发动贸易战、向多个国家加征关税时，CNN等美国媒体就报道，中国在稀土领域具有统治地位。
纽约时报特别强调钐（samarium）对军工的重要。中国垄断了钐金属的全球供应，钐制品几乎全部用于军事领域。
有很多稀土制品是民用（如汽车医疗）或军民两用（如航空,芯片），像镝、铽等元素，经审批后发放出口许可证。
中国政府对军用和民用（或军民两用）的稀土产品，采取了不同的处理方式，规定了区别化的出口管制具体措施。
中国可以拿民用稀土等为条件，与美国谈判换取EUV光刻机等高科技产品。EUV光刻机对中国来说还是很有用的。
对于钐（samarium）等军用稀土，则必须严格控制出口，可用其与美国谈判，停止或大幅减少向台湾出售武器。
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-i ... s-2eb2cb56
In the near term, it's not possible for the U.S. to meet its own needs for the rare earths included under China's export restrictions, said Luisa Moreno, a director at Defense Metals Corp. The U.S. produces virtually "none of the materials that have just been restricted." For the U.S. to be able to produce its own heavy rare earths, it may take five to 10 years in the best-case scenario, Moreno said.
"China processes near 100% of these heavy rare earths," said Gracelin Baskaran, research director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, "We currently do not have any capability to do this domestically."
"It's not just a capital problem. It's a know-how problem" for the U.S. and other countries, Baskaran said, "there are parts of the rare-earths supply chain … that we never actually learned how to do."
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/05/20/busi ... s-intl-hnk
For decades, the U.S. and other countries have been dependent on China's supply of rare earth minerals, which are difficult, costly and environmentally polluting to extract and process. China accounts for 61% of global mined rare earth production, but its control over the processing stage is much higher at 92% of the global output.
Magnets made of heavy rare earth elements are essential parts of everything from iPhones and electric vehicles to big weapons like F-35 fighter jets and missile systems. Yet their supply is completely dominated by China.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/09/busi ... -jets.html
https://cn.nytimes.com/business/2025061 ... hter-jets/
中国垄断了钐金属（samarium）的全球供应，这种鲜为人知的稀土金属几乎全部用于军事领域。钐钴磁体能在足以熔化铅块的高温下保持磁力不衰减，对导弹整流罩等狭小空间内高速运转的电机耐热性能至关重要。
中国向欧美汽车制造商发放含镝、铽两种受限稀土的出口许可，这类用于刹车和转向系统的磁铁可耐受临近汽油发动机的温度，但无法满足军用级别的高温需求。然而，没有迹象表明中国批准钐的出口，因为钐的民品应用很少。
冶金学家、长期专注于钐钴磁体研究的斯坦利·特劳特（Stanley Trout）指出：“中国限制出口的七种稀土金属中，有六种主要需求来自民用领域。”他说，“钐则不同，它几乎完全用于军事目的。”钐在美国的主要用户是航空航天和军事承包商洛克希德·马丁公司，每架F-35战斗机上大约要使用23公斤磅钐钴磁体。
拜登政府曾因担忧钐供应安全而签订了两个钐设施的大额合同，但因商业可行性搁浅，导致美国完全依赖中国。
