China Just Cut Off the U.S. Smuggling Route for Chinese Rare Earths

In May this year, China held an emergency meeting to officially launch the “Thunder Operation” against key strategic minerals such as rare earths, gallium, and germanium.

This is not a simple smuggling crackdown, but a deep cleanup, targeting the entire rare earth laundering chain hidden behind the “third country” and carefully disguised.

Since China has strengthened its restrictions on rare earth exports, many countries have faced resource shortages, especially the United States, which is highly dependent on rare earths.

In order to circumvent the restrictions, they “import in a roundabout way” through third-party countries in large quantities – on the surface, they purchase rare earths from these countries, but in fact, they obtain Chinese resources through transshipment. The whole process is secretive and complicated.

So, who is secretly reselling Chinese rare earths to the United States? And what impact will China’s further crackdown on the resale of rare earths have on the United States?