Input Stories

China’s tightened export controls on rare earths and other materials “have had a dramatic impact” on a wide array of global industries, including manufacturing, according to the latest annual trade barriers report from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (POLITICO Pro, subscription).

What’s going on: “China’s dominance of and restrictions on exports of these important inputs disrupts global industrial supply chains while increasing the supply of these products for Chinese manufacturers, thereby improving their competitiveness at the expense of market-oriented producers in other countries,” the report, released March 31, reads.
 
Why it’s important: USTR’s annual National Trade Estimate Report inventories the most important foreign barriers affecting U.S. trade in goods and services, from technical barriers to trade and industrial subsides to investment barriers and intellectual property protections.

The NAM says: The U.S. needs a comprehensive strategy to bolster domestic production of critical minerals and improve the overall resilience of U.S. critical minerals and rare earth supply chains. The NAM recommends that USTR negotiate an innovative sectoral trade agreement for the critical minerals sector with like-minded partners that would support U.S. investments, secure U.S. access to inputs and reduce exposure to nonmarket policies and practices by countries like China.