The Rachman Review US versus China: a test of strength
25 snips
Oct 29, 2025 
Michael Froman, former US Trade Representative and current president of the Council on Foreign Relations, joins to discuss the geopolitical tug-of-war between the US and China. He highlights the strategic importance of rare earths and examines China's export control strategies. Froman explains how automation affects manufacturing job gains and critiques the effectiveness of US tariffs compared to Chinese industrial policies. The conversation also touches on the future of tech competition and whether Trump's approach will have lasting impacts on US foreign policy.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
China's Mineral Leverage Is Real
- China holds leverage through rare earths and critical minerals that matter across civilian and military supply chains.
- Breaking that dependence will require years of investment and diplomatic coordination with allies.
Pool Effort With Allies To Reduce Risk
- Coordinate with allies to diversify sourcing and processing of critical minerals rather than trying to do it alone.
- Accept that building alternative processing capacity is a long-term, capital- and time-intensive project.
Processing And Know-How Are The Bottleneck
- The core problem is processing and know-how, not the raw minerals, and China controls crucial processing technology.
- Beijing's export controls also target technology and know-how, mirroring U.S. export-control models.