If you want an indication that resource nationalism and Beijing's weaponization of critical material exports to gain leverage over the US in high-stakes trade negotiations are accelerating, a new report Thursday afternoon says the Trump administration is planning to slow shipments of commercial jet parts to China.
Reuters cites several people familiar with the Commerce Department's moves to slow export licensing and limit the quantities of jet parts approved for shipment to China's state-owned planemaker COMAC to prevent stockpiling.
Officials have also explored new licensing requirements covering aviation hydraulic fluid and rules that could make it easier to restrict landing gear and other components.
The report stated:
The slowdown has taken several forms. The Commerce Department slowed export licensing for airplane parts bound for China in recent weeks, two other sources told Reuters.
Officials have also expressed interest in issuing an export regulation that could make it easier to restrict landing gear and other aircraft parts to China, two sources said. A draft version included a new licensing requirement on aviation hydraulic fluid shipped by US suppliers like ExxonMobil, one of the people said.
And the Commerce Department has been limiting the number of parts licensed to be shipped to China's state-owned planemaker, COMAC, to keep the company from stockpiling, another source said.
What this suggests is that last month's Trump-Xi meeting in Washington produced no resolution on rare earths, only now an increased willingness by Beijing to tighten restrictions on critical material exports to the US and the West even further.
This has produced shortages of gallium, germanium, tungsten, and other critical materials essential to the looming defense rearmament supercycle, and in return, we've launched our "own the bottlenecks" theme.
In early 2025, China ramped up restrictions on critical material exports to the US, while the Trump administration sought a level playing field and has choked off China's access to cheap crude, whether from Cuba, Venezuela, or through the Strait of Hormuz.