= What One Mineral Reveals About the U.S.–China Trade War =

'''What One Mineral Reveals About the U.S.–China Trade War''' was written by Miles Kellerman in 2025. It was published on his [[https://mileskellerman.substack.com/p/what-one-mineral-reveals-about-the|blog]].

The author explores how antimony imports to the [[UnitedStates/DonaldTrump|U.S.]] raised after export controls were placed by [[China/XiJinping|China]], the world's primary supplier. The explanation is two-fold:
 * [[Tajikistan]] has begun exporting large quantities of raw antimony to European countries, especially [[Belgium]], for processing and eventually export to the U.S.
 * Several countries are 'sanction busting'; antimony is being transshipped through third countries
   * "On May 9th, 2025, the Chinese Communist Party announced the creation of a special inter-agency operation. The objective of this operation is ... prevent criminals from circumventing Chinese export controls on critical minerals."

The author highlights that transshipping is the justification used for the [[UnitedStates/EconomicPolicy/TrumpTariffs#Second_Administration|Trump tariff regime]].

"What sanctions and export controls do, in other words, is alter the domestic political economy of targeted states."



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