What are the potential impacts of semiconductor controls on global trade and technology policy in relation to rare earth resources?

In 2025, the ongoing contest between the United States and China moved from tariff skirmishes to a confrontation over strategic choke points.Washington expanded semiconductor export controls under the Biden administration, limiting China’s access to advanced chips, design software, and lithography tools. The Trump administration tightened these rules on Sept. 29, extending them to foreign affiliates. Beijing retaliated ten days later with new licensing requirements on rare-earth oxides, metals, and magnet products. The escalation jolted global markets and forced emergency consultations in Busan, South Korea, where both sides agreed to a tentative one-year suspension of their measures. The pause quieted financial The post The Burn and the Choke: Why Semiconductor Controls Will Outlast China’s Rare Earth Weapon appeared first on War on the Rocks