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July 01, 2026
 

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SUPPLY CHAINS

A sample of monazite, a mineral used in the rare earth industry to extract elements such as cerium, lanthanum and neodymium, at the Geological Museum of China in Beijing. The European Union is set to announce a plan to reduce its reliance on raw materials from China.
BUSINESS
Dec 1, 2025
‘Slow’ EU to unveil plan for cutting reliance on raw materials from China
The EU will face challenges creating its own critical raw materials and rare earths industry, largely from scratch, from mines to extraction, processing and stockpiling.
China achieved manufacturing dominance thanks to its weaker protections for workers, communities and the environment. Now it’s exporting that model.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 30, 2025
China’s unfair labor model is going global
China’s low rights model is no longer a domestic labor issue but a systemic challenge to global labor standards, supply chain governance and fair market competition.
The U.S. and the world face a growing security risk due to heavy dependence on China for key pharmaceutical ingredients, prompting calls to diversify supply chains to reduce geopolitical vulnerabilities.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 30, 2025
China holds all the cards in global pharmaceuticals
China is the exclusive supplier of at least one chemical used in nearly 700 crucial medicines.
A truck waits outside of the gate of Nexperia factory amid a shortage of chip supply caused by the diplomatic standoff between China and the Netherlands over the company, in Dongguan, Guangdong province, China, on Nov. 7.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 24, 2025
How the Nexperia chip crisis upended auto supply chains — again
A factory in China’s industrial south has become a global choke point for automotive chips, upending a sector that swore it wouldn’t be caught again by supply-chain disruptions.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2025
Xi risks global blowback if China cuts off rare earths for Japan
Rare earths are a lever that China has used against Japan before.
Flags fly next to a logo of Nexperia at the facade of its factory in Dongguan, Guangdong province, China, on Nov. 7 amid a shortage of chips caused by a diplomatic standoff between China and Netherlands over the company.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 20, 2025
Netherlands returns control of Nexperia to Chinese owner
The move defuses a standoff with Beijing over the maker of “legacy” chips that had begun to hamper automotive production around the world.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham speaks at the 2023 U.S. Business Day and Taiwan-U.S. Supply Chain Partnership Forum in Taipei. Taiwan's leadership is advocating for a supply chain initiative among democratic nations that reduces reliance on China.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 11, 2025
How Taiwan’s ‘nonred’ supply chain might work
Proposed as an alternative to China-dominated supply chains, the initiative urges democracies to cooperate in securing advanced manufacturing supply chains.
U.S. President Donald Trump attends a dinner with the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, in the East Room of the White House on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 7, 2025
Trump meets Central Asian leaders to boost critical mineral ties
The White House meeting emphasizes the Trump administration’s efforts to expand and secure U.S. supply chains through new global agreements.
An employee works with a wafer in a production line of Dutch semiconductor company Nexperia in Hamburg, Germany, in June 2024.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 1, 2025
U.S. to announce Nexperia’s China facilities will resume shipments
Resumed shipments would be a relief for auto manufacturers worldwide who faced the imminent prospect of curbing production.
Honda has halted production at its Mexico plant due to a semiconductor shortage caused by supply disruptions from Netherlands-headquartered Chinese chipmaker Nexperia, officials said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 30, 2025
Honda halts production at Mexico plant amid chip shortage
The Japanese automaker is making arrangements to resume operations, but the timeline for that remains unclear.
A wafer fab owned by Nexperia. The Dutch chipmaker has warned Japanese auto parts makers about a potential supply shortage.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 23, 2025
Nexperia warns Japanese automakers of uncertain chip supply
The Dutch government seized control of Nijmegen-based Nexperia earlier this month in an unprecedented step intended to secure European access to the components made by the company.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent takes a picture during the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 23 in New York.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 22, 2025
Supply-chain economics beat tariff politics
Twenty years ago, China learned the hard way that once supply chains reorganize, they never return to their previous form.
A sample of monazite, a mineral used in the rare-earth industry to extract elements such as cerium, lanthanum, and neodymium, is displayed at the Geological Museum of China in Beijing on Oct. 14.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 21, 2025
‘They can shut us down in two months’: Carmakers race China’s rare-earths curbs
Most motors that don’t rely on rare earths are years away, as are efforts to develop new rare-earth mines and processing plants outside China, industry experts say.
The U.S.-China trade war has escalated as both sides use economic leverage, with China asserting dominance over rare earths to retaliate against U.S. tariffs, while the U.S. seeks a collective global response and long-term strategy to reduce dependency on China's supply chains.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 21, 2025
This is what a real trade war looks like
China has leverage over trading partners every bit as powerful as what Trump seeks to wield.
Magnetic slices made from rare earth metals. Beijing last week announced a sweeping set of rules that are set to restrict the flow of rare earths worldwide.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 20, 2025
China’s rare earth restrictions aim to beat U.S. at its own game
The impacts of the Chinese licensing system would be much broader than U.S. technology controls, which have targeted only more advanced computer chips.
Silicon semiconductor wafers pass through a wet chemical cleaning machine at a Nexperia plant. The company is the latest to be caught in an escalating global trade spat leading up to China’s high-stakes talks with the United States.
BUSINESS
Oct 17, 2025
Carmakers push to secure chips as China trade spat escalates
While Chinese leader Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump are to meet this month to hammer out a trade accord, both sides announced restrictions that have raised tensions.
A Chinese trade delegation in Madrid for talks with its U.S. counterpart holds a news conference on Sept. 15. Rare earths, along with tariffs and other key issues, will define the next phase of the China-U.S. rivalry as both sides escalate tensions, vie for leverage and leave room for tactical negotiation.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 16, 2025
The Sino-U.S. economic cage match heats up
Notwithstanding momentary attempts at detente, the long-term path is toward competitive confrontation.
A barrel of annealed neodymium iron boron magnets prior to being crushed into powder in Tianjin, China, on June 11, 2010.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 15, 2025
China flexes superpower status using rare earths in global supply chain grab
The true impact is yet unknown but the move already has companies and policymakers considering countermeasures and alternative suppliers.
New export restrictions include large-scale lithium-ion batteries used for energy storage as well as cathode and anode materials and battery manufacturing machinery, all technologies where China has a robust global lead.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 13, 2025
China’s new weapon in U.S. trade talks: Batteries
New rules require battery companies to receive licenses from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce before exporting their goods, allowing Beijing to selectively weaponize exports.
A worker waters the site of a rare earth metals mine in Nancheng county, in China's Jiangxi province, in January 2011.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Oct 11, 2025
The world’s chip supply chain is bracing for fallout from China’s rare-earth curbs
The restrictions represent the first major attempt by Beijing to exercise long-arm jurisdiction over foreign companies to target the semiconductor industry.
Uruguay federation reportedly cancels charter flight after World Cup exit
Uruguay's Jose Maria Gimenez reacts after the team's loss against Spain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
India’s gig workers pay the price for exposure to New Delhi’s hazardous air
Rohit Kushwaha waits for a customer as he delivers his last parcel of the day, in New Delhi in January. His work as a delivery driver has helped pay the family’s bills, but has had a significant impact on his health.
Yen hits 40-year low against the dollar, breaking ¥162 level
Japan's currency broke ¥162 to the dollar on Tuesday in Tokyo.
Japan falls in gut-wrenching fashion as Brazil strikes late to win World Cup clash
Brazil's Gabriel Martinelli (right) shoots past Japan defenders Shogo Taniguchi (left) and Takehiro Tomiyasu to score in the second half of a match in the round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Houston on Monday.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.
‘The colors speak for themselves’: How Japan’s chroma bible went global
“A Dictionary of Color Combinations” is meant to function as a quick-reference guide for artists, designers and anyone with a passing interest in aesthetics as a quantifiable pursuit.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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