CHINA'S RARE EARTH WEAPON CHANGES CONTOURS OF TRADE WAR BATTLEFIELD

China has signalled for more than 15 years that it was looking to weaponise areas of the global supply chain, a strategy modelled on longstanding American export controls Beijing views as aimed at stalling its rise.

The scramble in recent weeks to secure export licenses for rare earths, capped by Thursday's telephone call between U.S. and Chinese leaders Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, shows China has devised a better, more precisely targeted weapon for trade war.

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