China has secured a virtual monopoly over gallium, a critical mineral used to produce microchips in advanced military technologies. Failing to de-risk gallium supply chains could have serious security and economic consequences for the United States and its allies.
Plays stupid games, win stupid prizes as the saying goes.
We actually produce gallium in the US already, the technology for refining it is well established, and you don’t actually mine it directly because it doesn’t really occur by itself - it’s commonly derived in bauxite, which is mined for it’s aluminum content, which I why I mentioned waste products form aluminum refinement, because that’s the most common source for industrial production. Also, other countries can do this, too
You know that we can grow the industry in the US pretty trivially, right? And, again, other countries can and do produce it? You’re presenting this as some massive win, when it’s really just someone observing that we should fix that before it becomes a serious problem.
Alas, this isn’t a big deal and you’re going to have to look elsewhere for the defeat of the west. Sorry!
I absolutely know that US is not capable of growing industry trivially. In fact, industry only accounts of around 11% of US GDP at this point. There is also no skilled labour needed to grow the industry. Here’s just one example of that https://www.popsci.com/technology/stinger-missiles-raytheon-ukraine/
Meanwhile, as the chart very clearly shows, other countries produce negligible amounts of gallium. Ramping up production of that overnight isn’t going to happen. The real point here is that gallium and germanium are just a couple of items where China is a bottleneck, and restricting their export is simply demonstration. There are plenty of other things China can cut going forward if US continues to play this game.
You keep using this chart, but it doesn’t mean anything. Just because most countries don’t produce Gallium, doesn’t mean that they’re not easily capable of it. It’s just cheaper for companies to source Chinese gallium. If it were in sharp demand, it would become profitable for domestic refineries to produce.
It means that producing gallium is going to require a significant amount of time. You can’t just magically will mines, refineries, and supply chains into existence. This is going to take years to do. Meanwhile, since China has fully domestic supply chains right now, it’s going to be Chinese companies dominating the global market while these alternative supply chains are built out for western companies.
We actually produce gallium in the US already, the technology for refining it is well established, and you don’t actually mine it directly because it doesn’t really occur by itself - it’s commonly derived in bauxite, which is mined for it’s aluminum content, which I why I mentioned waste products form aluminum refinement, because that’s the most common source for industrial production. Also, other countries can do this, too
But, sure.
here’s a reality check for you
You know that we can grow the industry in the US pretty trivially, right? And, again, other countries can and do produce it? You’re presenting this as some massive win, when it’s really just someone observing that we should fix that before it becomes a serious problem.
Alas, this isn’t a big deal and you’re going to have to look elsewhere for the defeat of the west. Sorry!
I absolutely know that US is not capable of growing industry trivially. In fact, industry only accounts of around 11% of US GDP at this point. There is also no skilled labour needed to grow the industry. Here’s just one example of that https://www.popsci.com/technology/stinger-missiles-raytheon-ukraine/
Meanwhile, as the chart very clearly shows, other countries produce negligible amounts of gallium. Ramping up production of that overnight isn’t going to happen. The real point here is that gallium and germanium are just a couple of items where China is a bottleneck, and restricting their export is simply demonstration. There are plenty of other things China can cut going forward if US continues to play this game.
I love your desperation.
I’ve just stated the basic facts of the situation, desperation is all on your end it seems.
You keep using this chart, but it doesn’t mean anything. Just because most countries don’t produce Gallium, doesn’t mean that they’re not easily capable of it. It’s just cheaper for companies to source Chinese gallium. If it were in sharp demand, it would become profitable for domestic refineries to produce.
It means that producing gallium is going to require a significant amount of time. You can’t just magically will mines, refineries, and supply chains into existence. This is going to take years to do. Meanwhile, since China has fully domestic supply chains right now, it’s going to be Chinese companies dominating the global market while these alternative supply chains are built out for western companies.