In this interview with Hussein Askary, Vice-Chairman of the Belt and Road Institute in Sweden, Australian expert Dr. Warwick Powell gives a thorough background of the latest developments in the trade war between the United States and China. The recent restrictions imposed by China on exports of rare earth elements and products of dual use is a game changer in this process.
Visit the Substack page of Dr. Warwick Powell: https://substack.com/@warwickpowell
The more we dive into the shock created by China’s new move on rare earth elements’ restrictions the clearer it becomes how decades of deindustrialization and financialization in the West can’t be fixed by with a magic rod. “The medicine man can’t fix what time has spoiled,” as the Arabic saying goes. We take up the case of the Swedish car battery company Northvolt, a clear and expensive case of the failure of de-risking from China.
Making America and the EU great again is possible. But it takes time, hard and creative work, and change of attitude towards the world; three rare elements that Western leaders say they cannot afford. We can focus on education, science and technology, culture, infrastructure to rebuild the U.S. and the EU, instead of investing in war and hatred. We can work together with China and the Global South rather than antagonising them.
Make friends not rivals! The Belt and Road Initiative offers a wonderful framework for this kind of cooperation.
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