earlier this year, US defense supplier United States Antimony Corporation tried to ship 55 metric tons of antimony mined in Australia to its smelter in Mexico via 
Ningbo port — a routine practice until recently. But in April, while the shipment was being transloaded in Ningbo, customs detained it for 3 months, prompting United States Antimony to ask the State Department and White House for help.
The Chinese released the shipment in July, on the condition that it be sent back to Australia and not to the US. When it arrived in Australia, United States Antimony learned that product seals had been broken. It is currently working out whether the antimony has been tampered with or contaminated.
in May, New Hampshire-based ePropelled, which makes propulsion motors for drones, received unsettling questions from its magnet supplier. The supplier sent government forms demanding sensitive information including drawings and pictures of ePropelled’s products and a list of buyers. It also asked for assurances that the rare-earth magnets China would supply ePropelled wouldn’t go toward military applications.
“Of course we are not going to provide the Chinese government with that information.”
ePropelled has about 100 customers, including large American defense contractors and drone manufacturers in Ukraine.
So its Chinese suppliers paused shipping, and ePropelled had to delay some customer orders by one or two months — double the amount of time it usually takes to deliver its motors. The company sought alternative suppliers in the US, Europe and Asia, including buying magnets from vendors in Japan and Taiwan, although they too rely on rare earths from China.
The company also struck deals with startup magnet producers Vulcan Elements in North Carolina and Oklahoma-based USA Rare Earth. However, those startups won’t have supply ready for ePropelled until at least the end of this year and will need to build up alternative sources of Chinese-dominated minerals as they scale up production.Quote
Byron Wan
@Byron_Wan
China is limiting the flow of critical minerals — which are needed to make everything from bullets to jet fighters — to Western defense manufacturers.
While Beijing allowed them to start flowing after the Trump administration agreed in June to a series of trade concessions, x.com/byron_wan/stat…
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