Part 7/14:
In a recent development, China announced it would limit access to these crucial materials, stating that licenses would be required to obtain magnets or their manufacturing machinery. Such moves could paralyze US vehicle production and other tech industries overnight, emphasizing the strategic importance of developing domestic supply chains—a process that could take a decade or more.
This hardware dependence extends into energy infrastructure, AI data centers, defense systems, and autonomous vehicles. China’s control over essential materials and the processing capabilities for batteries, magnets, and rare earth elements enable it to potentially dominate future technological frontiers.