Tit-for-Tat Tech Tussle: China and US Exchange Blows in Rare Earth Rumble

This is your Beijing Bytes: US-China Tech War Updates podcast.Hi listeners, it’s Ting—your resident expert in all things China, technology, and the occasional mischievous hack. I just wiped the digital dust off my data pad and I have to say, this past fortnight in the US-China tech war was less détente and more like a rapid, unrelenting series of electronic firefights.Let’s start with the policy chessboard. Early October, things were almost cordial—trade talks in Madrid between Washington and Beijing, a cordial chat between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump. But by the time APEC was on the horizon, the gloves were off. Caixin Global reports that both sides fired new rounds of export controls and tariffs on the critical stuff: rare earths, lithium batteries, and advanced chips. For instance, China’s Ministry of Commerce rolled out six new directives on October 9, specifically targeting rare earths and lithium tech—including a real curveball: for the first time, they’ve added extraterritorial controls, so even a South Korean firm needs Beijing’s blessing if a single rare earth magnet made in China ends up in a phone or EV sold in, say, Australia. It’s a play straight out of Washington’s playbook, only now it’s China taking a page from the US foreign direct product rule—talk about the student becoming the master.Meanwhile, across the Pacific, Section 301 tariffs hit semiconductor imports at up to 50%, and Uncle Sam is now targeting entire value chains—not just Chinese goods, but anything that touches Chinese supply in sectors like EVs, batteries, and solar. The US is looking beyond its borders, too, ramping up circumvention probes in ASEAN countries, making it much harder to just relabel a crated microchip and call it new. Manufacturers—both in Suzhou and Silicon Valley—are scrambling to integrate new traceability tech just to prove their goods aren’t just repackaged but genuinely transformed.For more http://www.quietplease.aiGet the best deals https://amzn.to/3ODvOtaThis content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI

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