this post was submitted on 23 Apr 2025

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Not one call from Xi (hexbear.net)

submitted 3 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 78 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (4 children)

85% of the global supply of Tungsten is China.

It's used in all AP bullets.

It's used in all AP tank shells.

It's used in all Howitzer artillery shells.

It's used in all of america's big bombs being dropped in Israel.

This is used in all of America's weapons given to Ukraine. They are literally not producing artillery shells right now because they do not have materials and can not source materials elsewhere in the world for the quantity of production they need to maintain their wars.

They simply can not maintain a trade war while maintaining actual war. One or the other has to stop.

The US produces 0 Tungsten.

[–] [email protected] 67 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

When someone becomes so invested in finance they forget that money is only valuable in its relationship to real things.

[–] [email protected] 48 points 3 days ago

I like to call it GDP-brain

[–] [email protected] 31 points 3 days ago

Value is created by entrepreneurs and investors, you see.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

China also controls the vast majority of rare earth element (REE) processing and put export controls on several heavy REEs in response to the tariffs. From a department of war think tank:

Until 2023, China accounted for 99 percent of global heavy REEs processing, with only minimal output from a refinery in Vietnam. However, that facility has been shut down for the past year due to a tax dispute, effectively giving China a monopoly over supply.

REEs are crucial for a range of defense technologies, including F-35 fighter jets, Virginia- and Columbia-class submarines, Tomahawk missiles, radar systems, Predator unmanned aerial vehicles, and the Joint Direct Attack Munition series of smart bombs. For example, the F-35 fighter jet contains over 900 pounds of REEs. An Arleigh Burke-class DDG-51 destroyer requires approximately 5,200 pounds, while a Virginia-class submarine uses around 9,200 pounds.

Do not, my friends, become addicted to rare earths. They will take hold of you, and you will resent their absence!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Tbh the rare earths thing is overstated.

The very large fraction of rare earth imports are used to make magnets for stuff like lawn mower motors. Total imports of rare earths are in the hundreds of millions.

Actually peanuts and there are other sources for them that are uneconomical compared to china’s production but if push came to shove the US could easily handle rare earths increasing in price and rarity by an order of magnitude without anyone really noticing.

The real problem would be building the refinement capacity which could easily take years, but critical industries that truly rely on rare earths can survive on stockpiles for years as well.

Rare earths are not a trump card.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Makes sense. I'll take your word for it. I don't know that industry.

I was citing a US foreign policy-friendly think tank (Center for Strategic and International Studies) that's citing a global material supply chain analysis group (Project Blue) assuming they would be adversarial to China and willing to sound the alarm. Sounds like it doesn't matter then.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

Like it’s not nothing but it’s not going to bring the USA to its knees. It might make a few very specific industries non-competitive.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 3 days ago

Taking an L to get that W

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 days ago (2 children)

This makes sense. But what is China's strategy? Just sell them all the Tungsten they want if they remove tariffs? Surely they know US is trying to start a war with them

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 days ago

But the US doesn't have the kind of centralised strategy or funds to stockpile enough anything to sustain an actual war with China.

By gleefully engaging in mercantile trade, China has made the US dependent upon it, and the US just can't start a war it could begin to win. Nor would the bourgeois class want to tolerate it for long because of how much it cuts into their own profits (which is clearly why they're giving up on tariffs now).

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 days ago

If the US actually tries to start a war everyone is fucked because nukes will fly and end all civilisation. Their longterm strategy is to build Europe-MiddleEast-Asia-Africa into one interconnected landmass of infrastructure in such a way that cooperation is most beneficial and to push the US out through support of sovereignty. Their short term strategy is to be such a large productive force that others are too dependent upon them to really fight it.

As for global communism. They do not have global revolutionary strategy. That's up to socialists in each of their own countries i suspect as it conflicts with ensuring their support for national sovereignty against US dominion is authentic.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Honestly, it's impressive, all they needed to do was not respond to his calls. Masterful play xi-lib-tears

[–] [email protected] 44 points 3 days ago

Trump folding under no pressure

[–] [email protected] 35 points 3 days ago (1 children)

"How to handle the imperial USA in its decline in one easy step" by Xi Jinping

"Do nothing, win."

xi-square-up

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago

sit-back-and-enjoy

[–] [email protected] 54 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

I have lysdexia and I read it as "Trump will go down on China", which isn't all that different than what's happening.

[–] [email protected] 40 points 3 days ago

Excellent news if true and if he sticks the course and doesn't reverse in a week.

I can hear it now:

"Folks the Chinese I've decided to go easy on them, they're very weak and in a bad spot and I'm a nice guy, I'm a nice guy. I look at them in this bad spot and I said okay I'll go easy on you, it's very sad, very sad what's going on in China and you know I'm America first but I had to do it, just had to do it. They're in a very bad spot, it would be a catastrophe if I didn't and then it would be our problem too. They still have too much of our stuff and I think we need to figure out a way to get it back but it's going to take some time and some plans. And let me tell you folks I have the best plans, I'm a planning genius. People are constantly coming up to me and telling me how brilliant my plans are. So we're going to use these wonderful plans and we're going to win but it's going to take time. And right now folks let me tell you we need to deal with the radical left lunatics in this country. Did you see what happened just recently? They made Elon into the soyjack, they turned him into the soyjack and humiliated him. It's disgusting and we can't allow it. These radical left America-hating universities have got to put a stop to this. We're not going to allow it anymore folks."

[–] [email protected] 32 points 3 days ago (1 children)

lol that's what the student loan thing is about I guess. Tariffs are working out exactly how everyone said it would so instead let's try to extract value out of the younger generation again