Will the US-China trade war affect the robot industry?

science and technology

Tensions between the United States and China have surged, especially after Huawei has been blacklisted and trade tensions continue to grow, raising concerns about rare metals needed for high-tech products such as robots, drones and electric vehicles.

According to the "phys" website, China recently raised tariffs to 25% on rare exports to the United States and threatened to stop exports altogether after the Trump Administration raised tariffs on Chinese products.

Most rare earth minerals are extracted from mines in China, where low wages and environmental standards make production cheaper and easier.

Mines

But trade experts say no one should be afraid of China's threats to stop exports to the United States, as there is a rare mineral mine for the United States in California. Australia, Myanmar, Russia and India are also major producers of somewhat mysterious metals, Brazil has huge reserves of rare earth.

Although the United States is among the top 10 countries in the world for the production of rare metals, it is also a major importer of metals, looking to China for 80% of what it buys from other countries, according to the US Geological Survey.

China produced about 120,000 metric tons of rare metals last year, while the United States produced 15,000 metric tons.

The United States also relies on China for the separation of the metals withdrawn from the Mountain Pass mine, the only rare land mine in the United States.