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Why the EU is ready to drop high tariffs on China-made EVs: Europe’s shift toward cooperation over protectionism on Chinese EVs is more political than business-driven. (restofworld.org)
submitted 9 months ago by to c/world@lemmy.world
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The EU had previously investigated Chinese companies and levied tariffs according to the level of state support to neutralize market distortion. Now, EU is dropping tariffs and instead creating a cartel for the industry.

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[–] 3 points 9 months ago

control of the world’s rare earth minerals

China's dominance isn't really because China has exclusive access to known reserves of it. It's because China dominates the processing industry for these. I'd guess that at least some of that is probably due to more-permissive environmental regulations.

https://www.npr.org/2025/07/23/nx-s1-5475137/china-rare-earth-elements

Many so-called rare earth elements are actually quite common, and they are mined globally, but China has a near-monopoly on refining them for use in everyday electronics, like smartphones and speakers, as well as for crucial defense systems, like fighter jets.

https://rareearthexchanges.com/news/how-china-processes-rare-earths-what-review-really-shows/

Environmental performance differs regionally—higher impacts at Bayan Obo (legacy tailings, fluorine management), lower-impact circuits in Sichuan, and improving in-situ protocols in the South. Nonetheless, wastewater, ammonium-nitrogen, and tailings management remain significant sustainability challenges. And we know the devastating state of Myanmar’s heavy rare earth mining operations.

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