Intro

In this week’s podcast, Trivium Co-founder Andrew Polk is joined by Trivium’s head of critical mineral and supply chain research, Cory Combs, to address the mounting confusion over whether and how China will ease off on its rare earth export curbs. 

The gents discuss:

• The implications behind China’s recent approval of a handful of rare earth magnet export licenses
• Whether China would consider removing rare earths from its dual-use export control list – spoiler alert: it won’t
• Reactions to supply chain disruptions from electronics companies, defense manufacturers, and the US national security realm
• China’s most recent threat to retaliate against companies that comply with US rules targeting Huawei chips via the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law
• The fragile nature of the 90-day US-China de-escalation, and what developments might derail the détente

Strap in, we go deep in the weeds in this one.