By Admin 
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that China’s dominance over the supply chain of essential minerals is increasing across the world, which could become a threat to economic and national security. He said that America is increasing its partnerships around the world to reduce its dependence on Beijing in terms of advanced technologies, defense systems and resources needed for industrial production.
Speaking before the House Appropriations Subcommittee of the US Parliament, Rubio said that the concentration of such important minerals and their processing capacity in a single country is a major strategic weakness not only for the US but also for the allied countries of Europe and Asia.
He said that this is not good for the world economy and to be honest, it is dangerous for national security that 90 percent of any important thing has to be dependent on a single country. Be it your industrial base, defense system or technology. This statement has come at a time when the Trump administration is giving a very important place to ‘critical minerals’ in its economic and foreign policy, especially amid the increasing competition with China.
Critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, rare earth elements and graphite are essential for electric vehicles, semiconductors, batteries, telecom equipment, renewable energy technologies and modern military systems. Marco Rubio said that America, along with many countries around the world, is trying to expand the supply chain to different places, so that alternative sources of both raw materials and their processing can be created.
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He told, ‘We included three dozen or more countries in the Critical Minerals Ministerial Meeting.’ According to him, now critical minerals have become an important part of America’s diplomacy and work on it is being done in almost every American embassy. He said that this issue has now become a priority in America’s foreign policy, so that dependence on China can be reduced by working with different countries.
Marco Rubio also said that if there is too much dependence on any one country for essential things, then it can be used to create economic pressure in times of crisis. The US Secretary of State also said that America’s strategy is not limited to just acquiring minerals, but the focus is also on developing processing capacity in the countries where these resources are found.
John Molinar, chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, also emphasized efforts to strengthen the supply chain and reduce dependence on China. Rubio said there are similar concerns in pharmaceuticals and other sectors, where production has become too concentrated in China, which could threaten the global market and national security.
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