Obama launches trade case against China over raw materials
President Obama on Tuesday morning launched a challenge to China’s export restrictions on rare earth and other raw materials as part of a broader effort to free up supply lines to global high-tech industries.
The U.S. will join with the European Union and Japan in pressing the case with the World Trade Organization, in hopes that it can pressure Chinese officials to relax restrictions during preliminary consultations over the next two months.
“We’ve got to take control of our energy future and we cannot let that energy industry take root in some other country because they were allowed to break the rules,” Obama told reporters in the White House Rose Garden.
“So our administration will bring this case against China today. We will keep working every single day to give American workers, and American businesses, a fair shot in the global economy,” Obama said.
The Obama administration argues that the current restrictions violate international trade rules, and that the disruptions in the supply chain unfairly force American and other manufacturers to move their production facilities overseas.
A more free-flowing supply of these rare earth materials is necessary to help the U.S. compete fairly overseas, one senior official said Tuesday morning.
cparsons@latimes.com
Original source: Obama launches trade case against China over raw materials
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