🧲 China squeezes rare earths – The world is choking!

🛑 While the US raises tariffs, China responds in an unexpected way: holding onto rare earths, halting magnet exports.

Every industry is... lightly shaken!

- Ford, Suzuki have to halt production.

- Elon Musk's robots run out of magnets to move their arms.

- ZF (Germany) warns it may have to stop its factory if not granted permission in time.

🛰️ Rare earth magnets are very small but extremely important.

- They are needed in F-35 jets, electric cars, radar, drones, robots, MRIs, wind turbines... Turn off the magnets = turn off the entire supply chain.

- In just one day, shares of JL Mag Rare Earth in China surged by 12% when granted export permission.

- Hong Kong stocks also rose sharply, while the S&P 500 declined.

📋 Beijing establishes a very detailed permission process, requiring reports on where each kilogram of magnets goes and what it is used for.

- An expert called this the sword hanging over the head of the West – just a slight shake from Beijing, and the entire supply chain trembles.

- The US, EU, and Japan begin to scramble for alternative supplies.

- But as Japan learned: opening a rare earth mine takes a decade, costs money, and causes heavy pollution.

🧪 Elon Musk stated plainly in a shareholders meeting: Optimus robots are affected because China is holding onto magnets. Without magnets, the robot's arms can't move.

- In 2024, China exports $2.9 billion worth of magnets, accounting for over 90% of the value of exported rare earth products – five times the value of raw rare earths.

🦉 In summary:

- Sometimes, what decides the world is not super chips or aircraft carriers... but a magnet the size of a fingertip!