The President's Daily Brief
PDB Afternoon Bulletin | April 15th, 2025: China Halts Rare Earth Exports In Latest Retaliation & Illegal Border Crossings Plummet To Record Lows
15 Apr 2025
In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin: First, the U.S.-China tariff war is taking another alarming turn, as China stops shipments of essential rare earth metals and magnets, imperiling U.S. industries reliant on Beijing’s minerals monopoly. Later in the show—we turn to the southern border, where according to new data from US Customs and Border Protection, illegal migrant crossings have plummeted to a record low under the Trump administration. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Kikoff: Tax season is the perfect time to take control of your financial future. Get your first month FREE at https://getkikoff.com/mike TriTails Premium Beef: Visit https://TryBeef.com/PDB for 2 free Flat Iron steaks with your first box over $250 Birch Gold: Text PDB to 989898 and get your free info kit on gold Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Full Episode
My name is Mike Slater. I have a podcast called Politics by Faith. I was just talking to a friend of mine who said he hasn't been able to follow the news lately. It's been too much. It's too crazy. It's driving him crazy. And he's just checked out. If you feel that way sometimes too, I think you'll really like our podcast, Politics by Faith.
We take the main story of the day and we run it through the Bible. What does the Bible say about this? It's amazing, but it's all there. And then God tells us what to do. We don't even have to figure it out. The answers are right there. He gives us the answers. Politics by faith. Please join us over there. You can listen to it wherever you're listening to this podcast right now. Politics by faith.
It's Tuesday, the 15th of April. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. We'll start things off with a troubling update in the global trade war as China cuts off exports of essential rare earth minerals, halts all jet orders from Boeing, and suspends all purchases of aircraft equipment from American companies.
Later in the show, we turn to the U.S. southern border, where according to new data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, illegal migrant crossings have dropped to a record low under the second Trump administration. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. The US-China tariff war, have you heard about it?
Well, it's taking another alarming turn as China stops shipments of essential rare earth metals and magnets, raising alarms for US industries reliant on Beijing's mineral monopoly. In their latest retaliation to President Trump's 145% trade tariff, the Chinese government ordered restrictions on the export of seven heavy rare earth metals processed or refined exclusively in China.
It's an attempt, apparently, to choke off supplies of components critical to the operations of U.S. automakers, aerospace manufacturers, semiconductor companies, and military contractors. China's stranglehold over the elements are a powerful arrow in their quiver, as 60% of all rare earth materials are produced in China, and more than 90% are processed there.
That's according to a report from the New York Times. Additionally, the Chinese Communist Party, the CCP, has halted exports of rare earth magnets, 90% of which are also produced in China. Are you starting to see a trend here?
These rare earth magnets, which are significantly more powerful than any other types, are essential for building electric motors that are used in the production of electric vehicles, drones, robots, missiles, and spacecraft, as well as, for example, the steering systems in gas-powered cars. Drew Horn, who served as the top U.S.
official on strategic minerals during Trump's first term, told the New York Post, "...rare earths are in everything. China has essentially created an all-powerful monopoly with them. They have that leverage to basically cut off the U.S. and cut the world off, and now they're doing it."
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