China's ability to hoard rare earths assisted by White House anti-mining policies

Abandoned mine, Upper Peninsula of Michigan

The United States, Japan, and the European Union filed a complaint last month with the World Trade Organization over China's hording of rare earth minerals, which are used in tablet computers, jet engines, and many car parts.

Here's what President Obama said last month about this move:

We've got to take control of our energy future and we cannot let that energy industry take root in some other country because they were allowed to break the rules. If China would simply let the market work on its own we would have no objections, but their policies currently are preventing that from happening and they go against the very rules that China agreed to follow.

But President Obama's anti-mining policies helped cause this monopoly, as PJM's Tatler blog pointed out last week:

How does China maintain its control over rare earth elements? For one thing, it controls production. The only mine currently producing rare earths is based in China. They also ensure that most of the supplies remain in China by deliberately limiting exports through strict quotas and stiff duties. These illegal measures operate to chill exports and drive global prices through the roof.

The Obama White House controls--anti-production.

Related post:

Big trouble from China: It's monopoly on vital rare earth minerals

Technorati tags: Politics news green environment economy governmentnews business epa asia international rare earth current affairs mining communism China