China blew up the trade war last week by imposing a worldwide export ban on so called rare earth minerals. The Wall Street Journal called a “bombshell.” China controls 70% of the world’s rare earth minerals which aren’t rare. The US has plenty of them but the enviros won’t let us mine them. Dr. St. Onge said it shows China is desperate because this is their nuclear option. He concludes there will be a deal in the end.
St. Onge said “Rare earths are essential for everything from smartphones and computer chips to electric vehicles to military aircraft and drones. A single F 35 uses nearly half a ton of rare earths. Note, rare earths are not actually rare. The term comes from the fact you have to dig a lot of dirt to get a little bit of element. So we’ve got plenty in Wyoming, Alaska, even Missouri, but environmentalists have made it basically impossible to mine them, so we are completely dependent on China for our military production.”
If we keep going with electrification of everything as Democrats and other globalists want, we will be wholly dependent on China. We have to take a different path, and President Trump is trying to do that.
St. Onge said Trump reacted strongy and called China’s response “extremely hostile, promising that as of November, he will impose an additional 100% tariff on China, bringing it to 130%, and then he would unleash new and interesting punishments.
“Now, Trump does have a lot of punishments to choose from, including export controls of critical American chips or software to China, anti-trust or anti-dumping sanctions, origin rules to crack down on Chinese exports, IP lawsuits for Chinese tech theft, canceling visas for Chinese government officials or even Chinese students, of which there are almost 300,000 in the US.
St. Onge continued on the weapons Trump still has available. “Or the nuclear option, restrict Chinese access to American financial markets, which account for 850 billion worth of Chinese companies raising cheap money in America. Note, there are precisely zero listed American companies in China.
“There’s even the little detail of a roughly $2 trillion gold denominated debt China owes us dating from World War Two, larger than all Chinese holdings of American debt. American presidents have pretended that debt does not exist, but Trump could change all that.”
China just pulled their nuclear option. It’s their most desperate option. St. Onge said it proves they are desperate for a deal. They must have one.
“In a recent video I talked about how China’s running out of runway on the trade war. It’s already cost Beijing trillions in stimulus money they can’t afford with out of control debts in local governments and property companies. Meanwhile, China’s been surviving by dumping below cost into Europe in the third world. One recent news report talked about Chinese beans selling for 80 cents in Indonesia. Those countries are now pushing back with new Chinese tariffs from the EU to Mexico. So both sides want a deal.
“China just showed it needs a deal. Still, China cannot just back down. President Xi would be putting himself in political Jeopardy from hardline rivals. So there could be more fireworks and more market carnage, but the last major trade deal is coming to the end game.”
I’ve learned to trust President Trump. He’s usually right in the end.
The China trade war just blew up.
China threatened a worldwide embargo of “rare earth” minerals. Trump responded with 130% tariffs starting November 1.
Both sides wanted a deal. China just blinked and showed it needs one. pic.twitter.com/JpwHZktgMA
— Peter St Onge, Ph.D. (@profstonge) October 13, 2025
There will be a deal because both sides need one. Doomsayers wanting Trump to fail and a market reaction are making lots of noise.
Lighter flints are made of rare earths.