The Pentagon agreed to purchase $400 million of preferred stock in MP Materials, which operates the only rare earth minerals mine in the United States, the company announced on Thursday.
The mine, located in Mountain Pass, California — 60 miles southwest of Las Vegas — extracts rare earth minerals that are vital for the U.S. military, CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/10/pentagon-to-become-largest-shareholder-in-rare-earth-magnet-maker-mp-materials.html">reported</a>. The Defense Department&#8217;s move is part of the Trump administration&#8217;s plan to break its dependence on China for rare earths, a goal that Interior Secretary Doug Burgum <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kL1kagSsIk8">discussed</a> in April.
“This initiative marks a decisive action by the Trump administration to accelerate American supply chain independence,” <a href="https://investors.mpmaterials.com/investor-news/news-details/2025/MP-Materials-Announces-Transformational-Public-Private-Partnership-with-the-Department-of-Defense-to-Accelerate-U-S--Rare-Earth-Magnet-Independence/default.aspx">said</a> James Litinsky, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of MP Materials. “We are proud to enter into this transformational public-private partnership and are deeply grateful to President Trump, our partners at the Pentagon, and our employees, customers and stakeholders for their unwavering support and dedication.”
Rare earths are used to produce magnets that are incorporated into critical U.S. military weapons systems, including those for drones, submarines, and the F-35 fighter jet, CNBC reported. Shortly after taking office, Trump <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/03/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-takes-immediate-action-to-increase-american-mineral-production/">signed</a> an executive order to ramp up American rare earth mining, bemoaning the fact that 70% of the United States&#8217; imports of rare earths come from China. Trump stated that he wants to make the United States “the leading producer and processor of non-fuel minerals, including rare earth minerals.”
China currently produces around 60% of the world&#8217;s rare earths and refines nearly 90%, <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/what-chinas-ban-rare-earths-processing-technology-exports-means">according</a> to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Rare earth minerals are also used to manufacture electronics, including smartphones and laptops, as well as electric vehicles and renewable energy technologies. After Trump levied tariffs on China, the communist country halted shipments of rare earth minerals to the United States. The administration <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/china/trump-says-deal-related-trade-was-signed-with-china-wednesday-2025-06-26/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> late last month that it had reached an agreement with China to restart rare earth imports.
MP Materials&#8217; agreement with the Pentagon will result in the construction of the company&#8217;s &#8220;second domestic magnet manufacturing facility (the &#8217;10X Facility&#8217;) at a soon-to-be-chosen location to serve both defense and commercial customers.&#8221; The &#8220;10X Facility&#8221; is expected to be completed in 2028, which will boost MP Materials&#8217; manufacturing capacity to 10,000 metric tons, according to the company. The Pentagon&#8217;s agreement with MP Materials is for 10 years and establishes &#8220;a price floor commitment&#8221; to ensure that the company is protected from &#8220;non-market forces.&#8221;
Shares of MP Materials <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=mp+materials+stock&amp;rlz=1C5GCCM_en&amp;oq=mp+materials+stock&amp;gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqDQgAEAAYgwEYsQMYgAQyDQgAEAAYgwEYsQMYgAQyDQgBEAAYgwEYsQMYgAQyBwgCEAAYgAQyBwgDEAAYgAQyBwgEEAAYgAQyBwgFEAAYgAQyBwgGEAAYgAQyBwgHEAAYgAQyBwgIEAAYgAQyBwgJEAAYgATSAQgyOTIxajBqN6gCALACAA&amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;ie=UTF-8">jumped</a> nearly 50% on Thursday, hitting $44 as of Thursday morning. The company&#8217;s all-time high was $56.54, reached on April 1, 2022.
News of the agreement comes shortly after Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tom-cotton-introduces-bill-to-break-chinas-monopoly-on-rare-earth-minerals-for-u-s-defense">introduced</a> a bill to expedite the extraction of rare earth elements in the United States, aiming to better protect America&#8217;s national security.
“Current environmental laws put our readiness to counter Communist China at risk and waste taxpayer dollars on projects that stall out and die on the vine,” Cotton <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/senate-republican-moves-give-u-s-edge-china-harvesting-minerals-weapons-systems">told</a> Fox News Digital. “This bill will create jobs, better arm and prepare our soldiers, and spend taxpayer dollars more efficiently.”

Department of Defense

Defense Department Becomes Largest Shareholder Of Company That Owns America’s Lone Rare Earth Mine

Business

China

Donald Trump

Military

Pentagon

rare earth minerals

BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) &#8211; China&#8217;s auto industry has inflated car sales for years through a burgeoning government-backed grey market that registers new cars right off the assembly line and then ships them overseas as &#8220;used&#8221; vehicles.
These so-called &#8220;zero-mileage&#8221; cars have never been driven but they are being exported as used to markets like Russia, Central Asia and the Middle East, allowing Chinese automakers to show growth and to dispose of cars that it would be difficult to sell domestically, according to a Reuters review of government documents and interviews with five auto dealers and car traders.
&#8220;This is the outcome of an almost-four-year price war that has made companies desperate to book any sales possible,&#8221; said Tu Le, Michigan-based founder of consultancy Sino Auto Insights.
The practice only gained national attention after the boss of Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor criticized the sale of zero-mileage used cars within China in May. On June 10 the People&#8217;s Daily newspaper condemned the sale of zero-mileage used cars domestically.
The paper, which often signals the positions of China&#8217;s top Communist Party leaders, blamed these fake used cars for driving down prices amid a withering domestic price war and called for &#8220;tough regulatory action&#8221; to restore order.
But the export and sale of fake used cars is actively encouraged by regional governments in China, according to a Reuters review of state media reports and government documents.
Local governments have embraced the practice as vital to meeting ambitious targets for economic growth set by Beijing, according to a Reuters review of local policy documents and state media articles.
Reuters has identified 20 local governments in China &#8211; including major export hubs like Guangdong and Sichuan &#8211; that have described their support for the export of zero-mileage used cars in publicly available government documents.
The tactics include creating extra licenses for the export of zero-mileage used cars, fast-tracking tax rebate claims, investing in export infrastructure, and funding networking events to encourage zero-mileage used-car exports, the government documents showed.
The zero-mileage used car export market works like this: as a fresh car emerges from the assembly line, an exporter buys the car either directly from the automaker or from a dealer, registers it with a Chinese license plate, and then immediately marks it as a second-hand car for shipping abroad. Along the way, the automaker books the car as sold and logs the revenue.
The support for the practice from local governments would make little sense anywhere outside China&#8217;s centrally planned economy. But here, showing rapid growth in sales and employment can bring about promotion or unlock new funding while missing economic targets that trickle down from Beijing can lead to demotions of local officials.
Because these export firms both purchase and sell a single car, the transaction value is double that of new or used-car purchases, so local governments court them to set up shop on their turf to quickly and artificially boost their GDP statistics, two Chinese auto industry executives said.
The tactic is only one sign that China&#8217;s car industry – the world&#8217;s largest – is allowing production to outpace demand, driving a protracted domestic price war and spurring accusations of automotive &#8220;dumping&#8221; abroad.
Cui Dongshu, the secretary general of the China Passenger Car Association, praised the practice earlier this month during an online panel discussion hosted by Tencent’s news portal, saying it was an alternative channel for automakers in China to access certain markets overseas that they may not be able to access due to rising trade barriers globally.
He added that it also helped to satisfy overseas demand for China-made cars in countries where Chinese brands had yet to enter.
Reuters contacted all the local governments mentioned in this article for comment but none responded. China&#8217;s State Council and commerce ministry did not respond to a request for comment. China&#8217;s foreign ministry referred queries on the practice to &#8220;the department in charge,&#8221; without elaborating.
GOVERNMENT SUPPORT
Local government support has taken various forms, from simplifying paperwork, to allocating extra quotas for local vehicle registrations, to setting up free warehouses for zero-mileage used cars close to China&#8217;s land and maritime borders, the Chinese documents showed.
In February 2024, the planning commission of the southern city of Shenzhen, one of China&#8217;s richest cities and a tech hub that is home to Huawei and Tencent, pledged to expand the export of zero-mileage used cars as part of efforts to reach an annual target to export 400,000 vehicles of all kinds.
Nearby, the southern Chinese metropolis Guangzhou announced earlier this year it had created a mechanism to support and accelerate the export of zero-mileage gasoline vehicles by allocating extra quotas for local registrations that are otherwise capped to mitigate traffic congestion and air pollution in the city.
Xinmi, a district of Zhengzhou, the provincial capital of China&#8217;s third-most populous province of Henan, said in February that it helped local firm Xinjiasheng Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd to &#8220;promote zero-mileage used car exports, in order to use exports to drive domestic sales.&#8221;
Reuters found a dozen local governments were boosting the export of zero-mileage used cars as part of their strategy or core to their plans for growth.
Sichuan province, one of China&#8217;s most important economic engines, said in October in a policy document it had supported the creation of an &#8220;online export ecosystem for zero-mileage used NEVs&#8221; by promoting e-commerce platforms like Alibaba International, where 100 Sichuan-based used-car sellers are now active.
Xinjiasheng Supply Chain Management and Alibaba did not respond to requests for comment.
MARKET SHIFTS
The practice began sometime after 2019 when China allowed used cars to be exported to other countries. Now thousands of traders are involved in passing off new cars as used to qualify for the channel, according to Wang Meng, a consultant for the China Automobile Dealers Association.
Of the 436,000 used passenger and commercial vehicles exported by China in 2024, 90% are estimated to be &#8220;zero-mileage,&#8221; Wang said.
China overtook Japan to become the world&#8217;s largest exporter of new cars in 2023 and exported 6.41 million vehicles last year, according to the China Passenger Car Association. Of these, about 6% would have actually been zero-mileage used cars, according to Wang&#8217;s estimates.
Two dealers and two industry experts said the majority of zero-mileage used cars are gasoline powered and thus less desirable in the Chinese market. But electric vehicles, which are subject to generous government-funded purchase subsidies, also make up a significant portion.
Huanyu Auto, a used-car seller in China&#8217;s west metropolis of Chongqing, expanded to the zero-mileage used-car business in 2022.
The returns were so good in 2022 and 2023 that they were able to earn 10,000 yuan ($1,400) in profit off an electric sedan that they had purchased in China for 40,000 yuan by selling it in Central Asia, said William Ng, director of the firm&#8217;s international market division.
Criticism has started to mount. On June 7, Zhu Huarong, chairman of Chinese automaker Changan called for a crackdown on exports of zero-mileage used cars at a Chinese auto conference, saying the practice could &#8220;enormously damage Chinese brands&#8217; image&#8221; abroad. Changan did not respond to a request for further comment.
Xing Lei, the Massachusetts-based founder of consultancy AutoXing which provides insights on Chinese EV companies to foreign investors, said the practice could cause foreign investors to assess Chinese automakers&#8217; sales skeptically.
&#8220;How many are real or inflated? No one knows,&#8221; he said.
&#8216;DUMPING&#8217; CONCERNS
The proliferation of new cars being shipped for sale with &#8220;used&#8221; tags is reinforcing fears that China is dumping subsidized vehicles overseas, at a time when Beijing is scrambling to find export markets outside the United States, now heavily protected by tariffs.
Some countries, concerned that the influx of cars will crowd out local dealers and confuse consumers, are starting to push back.
&#8220;We&#8217;re definitely seeing friction and tension in markets where there are already manufacturers on the ground there,&#8221; said Michael Dunne, a consultant who closely follows the China auto industry.
Russia in 2023 issued a government decree effectively banning zero-mileage used cars from brands that already had official distributors in the country. The commerce bureau of Heihe, a Chinese city that sits on the China-Russia border, said last November on its website that this applied to Chinese brands such as Chery, Changan, and Geely.
Geely declined to comment while Chery and Changan did not respond to requests for comment.
Other countries&#8217; market regulators, including Jordan, are finetuning their definition of used cars by mandating a longer period after a vehicle&#8217;s licensing or production before it is classified as used.
Ng, of Huanyu Auto, said growing competition from new entrants such as mom-and-pop stores and even TikTokers selling zero-mileage used cars was causing the trade to become less lucrative.
&#8220;They used to sell vases, wine and are now selling cars in the same way,&#8221; he said of the new entrants. &#8220;This is chaos.&#8221;
(Reporting by Beijing and Shanghai newsrooms; Additional reporting by Gleb Stolyarov in Tbilisi; Editing by Mike Colias and Michael Learmonth)

Employee repairs a second hand car at a used car market in Beijing

Smoke & Mirrors In China’s Auto Industry: New Cars Exported As ‘Zero-Mileage Used’ To Inflate Sales

Automobiles

Communist China

Economy

WASHINGTON—During a Senate Judiciary hearing Wednesday, Texas Senator Ted Cruz exposed China’s shady efforts to infiltrate the American energy sector and leave the United States dependent on Beijing for so-called green energy.
&#8220;We are witnessing right now a systematic campaign against American energy,&#8221; Cruz said at the hearing. &#8220;There is a coordinated assault by the radical Left, backed and paid for by the Chinese Communist Party, to seize control of our courts, to weaponize litigation against US energy producers all in order to undermine American energy dominance.&#8221;
Cruz in particular <a href="https://statearmor.org/who-is-energy-foundation-china/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">focused</a> on Energy Foundation China, a group with ties to the Chinese Communist Party. The senator cited a report from State Armor, which found that &#8220;To secure U.S. dependence, the CCP has been co-opting the progressive American climate change lobby to push a transition from fossil fuels and other critical inputs…onto &#8216;green&#8217; technologies controlled by China.&#8221;
By funneling money through the foundation, the report claims, the CCP has funded many climate advocacy groups in America, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, which is well known for its litigious character.
&#8220;Their lawsuits are designed to destroy the American energy industry, which happens to perfectly coincide with the political objective of Senate Democrats to destroy the American energy industry,&#8221; Cruz said.
Cruz continued by exposing the Climate Judiciary Project, which claims to be impartial and uninvolved in litigation, but <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/climate-justice-group-deep-ties-judges-experts-involved-litigation-claims-impartiality" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> trains and supports judges presiding over cases of climate litigation.
Cruz pointed out that Energy Foundation China, which is run by former CCP officials, is funding litigation groups working to flood the courts with cases against American energy companies. These cases then come before judges trained by leftist-funded climate advocacy groups.
&#8220;This three-pronged strategy — foreign funding, mass litigation, and judicial indoctrination — is a full-spectrum assault on American energy independence,&#8221; Cruz said. &#8220;And while China drills and digs, we sue and shut down.&#8221;
&#8220;While China prepares for energy dominance, the American Left prepares to attack our own domestic capability.&#8221;
Ranking Member Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) called Cruz’s claims a &#8220;conspiracy,&#8221; arguing that the oil industry’s &#8220;dark money&#8221; schemes were more concerning.
&#8220;The hearing ignores that the fossil fuel industry has, for decades, benefited from secret funding to wage war on the American consumer by making energy more expensive and dirtier,&#8221; Whitehouse said.
Whitehouse also dismissed the claim that China was indirectly providing funds to litigious groups. Energy Foundation China, he argued, seemed focused on addressing Chinese environmental concerns, not advocating for legislative change in the United States.
Whitehouse said, &#8220;Fighting Chinese pollution in China [&#8230;] is a very different thing than having a Chinese conspiracy that funds a litigation group here in the United States.&#8221;
From 2001 to 2020, the EFC has paid out nearly $1.02 billion in grants to hundreds of different organizations seeking climate reform, according to a <a href="https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/energy-foundation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> by Influence Watch. The Climate Judiciary Project paid an undisclosed amount toward its judicial education programs.
Scott Walter, the president of the Capital Research Center, was among those testifying about the role the CCP might play among American climate lobbyists and judges.
Asked about the motives of the CCP officials who founded Energy Foundation China, Walter said he was &#8220;skeptical that former Chinese communist officials are interested in doing anything that would harm their country.&#8221;

Senate Judiciary Subcommittee Examines District Judges v. Trump

Ted Cruz Exposes China’s Plot To Undermine American Energy: ‘A Coordinated Assault’

Energy

Ted Cruz

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The Pentagon has successfully tested a long-range radar in Alaska that can detect missile threats from Russia or China, and could someday serve as a sensor in the Golden Dome missile defense shield.
The Long Range Discrimination Radar successfully acquired, tracked, and reported missile target data, the Pentagon said on Tuesday. These are key tasks for Golden Dome, a $175 billion program aimed at protecting the U.S. and possibly allies from ballistic missiles.
The U.S. Defense Department&#8217;s long-range radar in Central Alaska was built by Lockheed Martin as part of the existing Ground-Based Midcourse Defense missile defense system. The system is designed to increase the effectiveness of interceptors based in Alaska and California that are currently on standby to knock down incoming missiles launched by Iran or North Korea.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency, alongside the U.S. Space Force and U.S. Northern Command, conducted the flight test at Clear Space Force Station, Alaska, on Monday.
During this test, a target developed by MDA was air-launched over the Northern Pacific Ocean and flew over 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles) off the southern coast of Alaska where it was tracked by LRDR.
The Golden Dome missile defense shield aims to create a network of satellites to detect, track, and intercept incoming missiles.
Inspired by Israel&#8217;s Iron Dome, the Golden Dome program faces political scrutiny and funding uncertainty due to its projected cost. The shield is expected to be operational by January 2029, though experts question the timeline and budget feasibility.
The Golden Dome project was announced by President Donald Trump in May and is included in the &#8220;One, Big, Beautiful Bill.&#8221; Trump said the Golden Dome is a continuation of former President Ronald Reagan&#8217;s &#8220;Strategic Defense Initiative&#8221; that was launched in 1983 and sought to build a space-based missile defense system.
&#8220;Our enemies, our adversaries are going to pay a lot of attention to this,&#8221; Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last month.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="The Golden Dome Missile Defense Shield" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-xWxN_qObfI?start=56&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
(Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis)

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks about Golden Dome in the White House

U.S. Successfully Tests Radar That Could Link To Trump’s ‘Golden Dome’ To Detect Missile Threats

Alaska

Baliistic Missiles

Iran

Iron Dome

Israel

Pete Hegseth

Russia

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, citing the reality that China would be severely damaged by Iran’s threat to close the Strait of Hormuz, challenged the Chinese government on Sunday to tell the despotic Iranian regime not to do so.
“China in particular buys more oil from Iran than any other nation &#8211; with its imports from Iran surpassing 1.8 million barrels per day last month, according to data by ship tracking firm Vortexa,” the BBC <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c056pyv723vo">noted</a>. Iran&#8217;s state-run Press TV reported that the Iranian Parliament had endorsed closing the Strait of Hormuz, but the final decision would be made by the Supreme National Security Council.
“Do you expect Iran to move to close the Strait of Hormuz, to try to disrupt oil transportation across the world?” Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo asked Rubio on Fox&#8217;s &#8220;Sunday Morning Futures.&#8221;
“I encourage the Chinese government in Beijing to call them [Iran] about that, because they heavily depend on the Straits of Hormuz for their oil,” Rubio answered. “If they do that, it will be another terrible mistake; it’s economic suicide for them if they do it. And we retain options to deal with that, but other countries should be looking at that as well. It would hurt other countries&#8217; economies a lot worse than ours. It would be, I think, a massive escalation that would merit a response, not just by us, but from others.”
“So, look, they’re going to say what they need to say, you know,” he continued. “These are the things that need to happen for their own internal politics, and so forth. But in the end, we’re going to judge them by the actions that they take moving forward. We had three objectives; we struck those three objectives with decisive force, and that was the point of this mission. And what happens next will depend on what they do. If they want to negotiate, we’re ready to negotiate. If they want to get cute, and do things that are dangerous, we have responses available that are devastating.”
Rubio&#8217;s words may well have been heard in China; on Monday, it was reported that China warned Iran to back down from its threat to close the Strait.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
China warns Iran after its threats to close the Strait of Hormuz: “The Persian Gulf and surrounding waters are critical trade routes and must remain stable and open.” <a href="https://t.co/xzIrnzkVQd">pic.twitter.com/xzIrnzkVQd</a>
&mdash; Polymarket Intel (@PolymarketIntel) <a href="https://twitter.com/PolymarketIntel/status/1937133481378619475?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 23, 2025</a></blockquote>
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“We estimate that 84% of the crude oil and condensate and 83% of the liquefied natural gas that moved through the Strait of Hormuz went to Asian markets in 2024,” the U.S. Energy Information Administration has <a href="https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=65504">reported</a>. “China, India, Japan, and South Korea were the top destinations for crude oil moving through the Strait of Hormuz to Asia, accounting for a combined 69% of all Hormuz crude oil and condensate flows in 2024. These markets would likely be most affected by supply disruptions at Hormuz.”
<iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/APD5gNeIJjY?si=EBFV0xwOmPE7Z-IH&amp;start=1022" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

Secretary of State Marco Rubio testifies on the 2026 Budget In House Hearing

Rubio Challenges China: Tell Iran Not To Close Strait Of Hormuz. The Next Day, China Warns Iran.

Global Politics

Marco Rubio

Politics

Strait of Hormuz

President Donald Trump will give TikTok’s owner more time to comply with a federal law mandating that it cannot be owned by a Chinese company because of national security concerns. 
The extension will give ByteDance, the Chinese-based company that owns TikTok, another 90 days to find an American buyer. TikTok was first set to go dark in January 2025, but Trump has extended that deadline multiple times. 
&#8220;As he has said many times, President Trump does not want TikTok to go dark,&#8221; White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday. &#8220;This extension will last 90 days, which the Administration will spend working to ensure this deal is closed so that the American people can continue to use TikTok with the assurance that their data is safe and secure.”
Trump has previously expanded the deadline twice, once in January and then again in an April <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/extending-the-tiktok-enforcement-delay/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">executive order</a> that directed the Justice Department not to enforce the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act” until June 19. 
TikTok will now have until September to facilitate a deal with an American company or investor. 
During his first term in office, Trump first moved to ban TikTok via executive order, a move that was later blocked. Several years later, President Joe Biden signed a bill mandating the sale of TikTok into law in April 2024 after broad Congressional support. 
Days before Trump took office in January, the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/supreme-court-allows-tiktok-ban-to-take-effect" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ruled</a> that Congress was justified in passing the ban because of concerns about the Chinese government using TikTok to harvest the private data of millions of Americans. 
“There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and source of community,” the court wrote. “But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary.”
The court was unconvinced that the ban amounted to restrictions on free speech. 
“It is not clear that the Act itself directly regulates protected expressive activity, or conduct with an expressive component. Indeed, the Act does not regulate the creator petitioners at all. And it directly regulates ByteDance Ltd. and TikTok Inc. only through the divestiture requirement,” the court wrote.

Chinese Social Media App TikTok To Be Banned Unless Sold To US Company

White House Says Trump Will Extend TikTok Ban Deadline For 3rd Time

Executive

Joe Biden

National Security

Social Media

Technology

TikTok

World

FBI Director Kash Patel announced on Tuesday that the FBI had uncovered documents pertaining to an &#8220;alleged Chinese plot to create fake mail-in ballots&#8221; ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
Patel shared a screenshot of a headline from Just the News that read, &#8220;FBI gives Congress intel on alleged Chinese plot to create fake mail-in ballots in 2020&#8221; — along with his own comment confirming that the FBI had, in fact, turned such information over to Congress for additional scrutiny.
&#8220;The FBI has located documents which detail alarming allegations related to the 2020 U.S. election, including allegations of interference by the CCP. I have immediately declassified the material and turned the documents over to the Chairman Grassley for further review,&#8221; Patel posted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The FBI has located documents which detail alarming allegations related to the 2020 U.S. election, including allegations of interference by the CCP.
I have immediately declassified the material and turned the documents over to the Chairman Grassley for further review. <a href="https://t.co/sBVNUgN2BJ">pic.twitter.com/sBVNUgN2BJ</a>
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) <a href="https://twitter.com/FBIDirectorKash/status/1934797478609477704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 17, 2025</a></blockquote>
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According to the <a href="https://justthenews.com/accountability/political-ethics/fbi-gives-congress-intel-alleged-chinese-plot-create-fake-mail">report</a> published by Just the News, the alleged scheme involved the mass production of fake American driver&#8217;s licenses. The intelligence reports that raised the concern were from August of 2020 — and have now been declassified by Patel and turned over to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA).
Grassley knew of the intelligence reports, and had been concerned that they had never been properly investigated at the time. Instead, after President Joe Biden took office in January of 2021, his newly confirmed Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines declassified an <a href="https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/ICA-declass-16MAR21.pdf">intelligence report</a> in March stating that there had been no attempt by Communist China to interfere in the outcome of the election.
That report, declassified on March 10, 2021, stated in part, &#8220;We have no indications that any foreign actor attempted to alter any technical aspect of the voting process in the 2020 US elections, including voter registration, casting ballots, vote tabulation, or reporting results.&#8221;
With regard to China, the report said, &#8220;We assess that China did not deploy interference efforts and considered but did not deploy influence efforts intended to change the outcome of the US Presidential election.&#8221;
The report also determined that Iran had made attempts to influence the election in Biden&#8217;s favor, but had not been successful in doing so.

Kash Patel

Kash Patel Reveals China May Have Plotted To Flood U.S. With Fake Mail-In Ballots In 2020

Election 2020

Election Fraud

Elections

kash patel

Mail-In Voting

White House Artificial Intelligence Czar David Sacks warned against sweeping AI regulations this week, as well as against a “fear-based” approach to AI.
“The directive that President Trump gave us in his first week in office was that the U.S. has to win the AI race,&#8221; Sacks said at the Amazon Web Services summit Tuesday, noting that “You can’t just regulate your way through the AI race.&#8221;
&#8220;We have to out-innovate the competition. We have to win on innovation,” Sacks said. “Our companies, our founders, they have to be more innovative than our counterparts.”
One of the first <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/removing-barriers-to-american-leadership-in-artificial-intelligence/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">executive orders</a> President Donald Trump signed this term was aimed at “Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence.&#8221; The order instructed government agencies to “solidify our position as the global leader in AI and secure a brighter future for all Americans.”
In the same pen stroke, Trump threw out a <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/11/01/2023-24283/safe-secure-and-trustworthy-development-and-use-of-artificial-intelligence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Biden-era executive order</a> that detailed the administration’s approach to controlling AI’s use and creation.
Speaking at the AWS summit, Sacks agreed with Trump’s position that America must devote itself to succeeding in the AI race against other countries, namely China.
“If we were to lose the AI race, the repercussions would be significant,&#8221; he said.
Sacks argued that, since America’s innovative strength resides in the private sector, regulators should allow the private sector to freely build up AI infrastructure and technologies.
Recently, Amazon announced its <a href="https://apnews.com/article/amazon-data-center-nuclear-power-plant-pennsylvania-electricity-grid-31f705d035069279b70fa27a5dc71596" target="_blank" rel="noopener">plan to invest $20 billion</a> into building data centers in Pennsylvania, one of which would draw its power directly from a nuclear power plant. Many other companies are beginning to invest in the budding technology. But Sacks warns that extreme overregulation will deter them from further investment.
Sacks noted that the discrepancy between a regulator’s and businessman’s approach to technology will either make or break America’s dominance in the AI playing field.
“The mentality of Washington and regulators is to restrict and to control whereas the mentality of Silicon Valley is, again, to be a little bit more open and have people adopt your technology,” he said. “We need to, you know, have constructive regulation as opposed to regulation that hobbles our companies and creates a huge compliance load.”
“If we had taken this approach towards the internet, if we had basically had a fear based approach to regulation,&#8221; Sacks said, &#8220;I don’t think the U.S. would have become the dominant country in the internet.”
Furthermore, Sacks explained Trump’s approach to international partnership in order to secure AI supremacy.
Referring to Trump’s recent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/deals-and-diplomacy-heres-everything-trump-accomplished-on-his-gulf-tour" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gulf tour</a>, in which he secured billions of dollars in investments in AI technologies and data centers, Sacks explained that, “We have to adopt a partner mentality or we’re going to push the rest of the world into the arms of our global competitor.”

Key Speakers At Bitcoin 2025

White House AI Czar Warns Against Regulation: ‘We Have To Out-Innovate The Competition’

Amazon

Artificial Intelligence

The United States and China agree to a trade framework, slashing tariffs and unlocking rare earth minerals. Inflation finally cools  — but L.A. remains hot. We break down the latest on the economy and the political unrest. And, as chaos erupts on the L.A. streets, the real battle is for the narrative – who’s winning the PR war?
It’s Thursday, June 12, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
Morning Wire is available on video! You can watch today’s episode here:
 
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If you’d rather listen to your news, today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
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<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/us-china-trade-deal-rioters-charged-6-12-25/id1576594336?i=1000712561605" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
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<h2>Trade War Finale: We Have A Deal</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-933235" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_00_21_19.Still001-3.jpeg" alt="" width="640" height="360" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_00_21_19.Still001-3.jpeg 640w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_00_21_19.Still001-3-300x169.jpeg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /></div>
Topline: President Donald Trump announced that the United States has reached a trade deal with China. The news comes amid an uneasy truce after a series of retaliatory tariffs.
Early Wednesday morning, Trump shared on Truth Social that “Our deal with China is done, subject to final approval with President Xi and me.” This followed two days of negotiations between top economic officials from both countries in London. Trump said that the deal, as it stands, would impose 55% tariffs on Chinese goods entering the United States, but just 10% for American goods in China. China has also agreed to resume shipping magnets and rare earth minerals to the United States.
“Rare earths power $7 trillion US dollars of consumer goods every year,” Shaun Rein, the founder of the China Market Research Group, told The Daily Wire. “Without Chinese rare earths, our iPhones aren&#8217;t going to work. Our cars aren&#8217;t going to work. And importantly, our military defense weapons aren&#8217;t going to work. So without Chinese rare earths, America&#8217;s in a lot of trouble. What also people don&#8217;t realize is that about 95% of antibiotics actually [are] manufactured in China. And then all straight down everything you get out of Walgreens or CVS, whether it&#8217;s Advil or Tylenol, a lot of that is made in China.”
China is the second-largest economy in the world and is a major market for many American goods – $143.5 billion of U.S. goods were exported to China in 2024, although American imports of Chinese goods were far higher at $438.9 billion. Tariffs of 55% are comparatively high but much lower than the 145% imposed before the agreement was reached. The deal will allow Chinese students to resume attending American colleges and universities.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that this agreement would conclude trade negotiations with China and that deals from many other countries are close to locking in their own deals with the United States.
“We’re in good shape with lots of countries, but good shape isn&#8217;t good enough for the United States of America,” Lutnick told <a href="https://x.com/atrupar/status/1932819395077710148">CNBC</a>.”We want great deals that are fundamental to America, we can get them, we can get them done.”
And&#8230; Inflation rose just 0.1% in May compared to April — it’s now sitting at 2.4%, near a four-year low. 
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<h2>Anti-ICE Riots Spread As Politicians Spar</h2>
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Topline: The clash between President Trump and California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom escalated Wednesday, as anti-ICE riots continued to spread across the country. 
Protests continue to pick up steam nationwide:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">By Wednesday night, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, and Seattle joined the growing list of cities being hit by demonstrations, many of which turned violent. </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">In Texas, Republican Governor Greg Abbott mobilized the National Guard before protests across the state turned violent, with officers in a number of cities left hospitalized. </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">In Atlanta, hundreds of rioters lobbed fireworks at police and attempted to shut down a highway — authorities responded with tear gas and finally got the crowd under control. </li>
</ul>
California is still the epicenter of the unrest. Demonstrations continued Wednesday night, as rioters defied curfews and clashed with police. At least one rioter, Emiliano Galvez, has been charged with attempted murder. Galvez, a previously deported Mexican national, allegedly threw a Molotov cocktail at police in Los Angeles County. 
&#8220;Since June 6, there have been 330 illegal aliens that have been arrested as part of these riots in Los Angeles,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1932853233954836599">told</a> reporters. “113 of those illegal aliens had prior criminal convictions.&#8221;
Governor Newsom has<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0n77NFjDlBI"> voiced his support</a> for the demonstrations, telling Americans that it was time to “stand up” to President Trump, whom he blamed for provoking the unrest: “Donald Trump without consulting California law enforcement leaders commandeered 2000 of our state’s National Guard members to deploy on our streets illegally and for no reason. This brazen abuse of power by a sitting president inflamed a combustible situation…The founding fathers didn’t live and die to see this moment. It’s time for all of us to stand up.”
These anti-ICE protests aren’t likely to die out anytime soon — organizers are planning “No Kings” demonstrations in cities across the country on Saturday, June 14. That event will coincide with President Trump’s 79th birthday, along with a massive parade in Washington, D.C., to celebrate the Army’s 250th birthday. 
&#8220;We&#8217;re going to be celebrating big on Saturday,” President Trump <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1932480100026511650">said</a>. “And if there&#8217;s any protester that wants to come out, they will be met with very big force… These are people that hate our country. They will be met with very heavy force.”
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<h2>Protests &amp; PR</h2>
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Topline: As Los Angeles and other cities contain the anti-ICE riots, Democrats, Republicans, and the media battle over shaping the narrative.
Democrats and Republicans on the national stage have made the ongoing unrest a central part of their messaging since ICE raids began in L.A. last week. Democrats have slammed Trump for deploying troops against American citizens and blame his actions for sparking the riots, arguing that the threat of a militarized response escalated tensions on the ground and tracks with a broader pattern of authoritarianism.
Republicans, especially the president, have taken the opposite tack – decrying Democrats for being complicit in the ongoing violence and lawlessness and insisting that Trump&#8217;s quick and decisive deployment of troops was necessary to prevent further destruction.
“What&#8217;s going on looks really bad to the average American,” Mark Hemingway, Senior Writer at RealClearInvestigations, told The Daily Wire. “This is a very different time than 2020. And we went through months of riots in 2020. And I think now Americans have a very good and clear sense that these are not organic riots necessarily, these are not spontaneous.”
Hemingway seemed skeptical of the proposition that a majority of Americans would view the deployment of troops as escalatory.
“I think the American people are broadly sympathetic to Trump,” Hemingway said. “Trump campaigned on mass deportations. His immigration policy is still <a href="https://www.realclearpolling.com/stories/analysis/trumps-immigration-policies-remain-popular-polls">broadly popular</a>. And the idea that Democrats are attaching support of violent riots to that, or trying to make Trump look like the extremist, it&#8217;s just, this is not five years ago…at this point in time, I think the average American would, you know, trust the first 700 Marines in the phone book at 29 Palms over the elected leadership of Los Angeles to do what&#8217;s right for the people of that city.”

MRN 6.12.25 Thumbnail_V1

Morning Brief: A China Trade Deal And More Riots

Howard Lutnick

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Inflation

Media

Morning Wire

Riots

Tariffs

Trade War

The University of Michigan said on Tuesday that it is &#8220;actively reviewing all relevant policies&#8221; after two Chinese nationals working with the school were <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/alarming-pattern-another-chinese-national-arrested-for-smuggling-biological-materials-into-u-s">arrested</a> for smuggling potentially dangerous &#8220;biological materials&#8221; into the United States.
The university, which <a href="https://research.umich.edu/news-and-issues/research-annual-reports/fy24-research-annual-report/fy24-news-release/">boasts</a> of being one of the top public research schools in the world, has come under the microscope as two Chinese researchers doing PhD and post-doctoral work at U-M were charged by the Department of Justice this month after they were caught allegedly smuggling hazardous materials that could wipe out crops.
&#8220;Recently, several individuals have been accused of trying to transport materials across international borders in violation of federal laws and U-M policies, and of making false statements to law enforcement. The university takes these situations extremely seriously,&#8221; said Arthur Lupia, U-M&#8217;s interim Vice President for Research and Innovation. &#8220;That is why the university is: Fully cooperating with federal investigations about these matters; Actively reviewing all relevant policies; Reexamining internal protocols to determine how to improve training and provide additional guidance; and Ensuring that failure to comply with all laws, regulations, and policies will have consequences, up to termination.&#8221;
Earlier this week, a PhD student from Wuhan, China, was arrested at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport for attempting to smuggle “biological materials” into a U-M laboratory. Chengxuan Han told authorities that she had previously sent packages to the United States with biological material related to <a href="https://www.ars.usda.gov/news-events/news/research-news/2023/bioluminescence-may-shine-light-on-roundworm-secrets/#:~:text=Even%20though%20roundworms%20are%20nearly,crop%20losses%20worldwide%20each%20year." target="_blank" rel="noopener">roundworms</a>, a parasitic worm that can “pose major problems in corn, soybean, peanut and other crops,” according to the DOJ.
The arrest of Han marked the second time this month that a Chinese citizen with connections to the University of Michigan has been charged with smuggling potential biological threats into the country. Michigan scholar Yunqing Jian, along with her boyfriend, Zunyong Liu, were also charged by the federal government with attempting to smuggle a fungal plant into the country that could potentially cause &#8220;head blight,&#8221; a disease that can wipe out wheat, barley, corn, and rice crops.
U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr. called the arrests &#8220;part of an alarming pattern that threatens our security.&#8221;
&#8220;The American taxpayer should not be underwriting a PRC-based smuggling operation at one of our crucial public institutions,” Gorgon added.
Last year, U-M <a href="https://research.umich.edu/news-and-issues/research-annual-reports/fy24-research-annual-report/fy24-news-release/">said</a> it spent $1.17 billion in &#8220;federally sponsored research expenditures,&#8221; adding that &#8220;Federal funding now accounts for 57% of the university’s total research volume.&#8221; Some of that funding has been <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/health/2025/06/08/trump-administration-federal-funding-cuts-michigan-public-health-agencies-university-research/84007389007/">affected</a> by President Trump ripping up numerous federal grants to universities across the country.
FBI Director Kash Patel addressed the arrest of Jian and Liu last week, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/feds-arrest-chinese-scholar-for-attempting-to-smuggle-pathogen-used-for-agroterrorism-into-u-s">saying</a> it “is a sobering reminder that the CCP is working around the clock to deploy operatives and researchers to infiltrate American institutions and target our food supply, which would have grave consequences… putting American lives and our economy at serious risk.”
The Trump administration has moved to &#8220;aggressively&#8221; <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rubio-promises-to-aggesively-target-students-tied-to-chinese-communist-party">revoke</a> the visas of Chinese students studying at American universities. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last month that the administration would start by focusing on revoking the visas of students with close ties to the Chinese Communist Party and those studying in &#8220;critical fields.&#8221;
Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-unveils-terms-of-done-trade-deal-with-china?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Trump+Unveils+Terms+Of+%E2%80%98Done%E2%80%99+Trade+Deal+With+China">announced</a> on Wednesday, however, that his administration is close to finalizing a trade deal with China that includes allowing Chinese nationals to use &#8220;our colleges and universities.&#8221;
In January, U-M ended its partnership with a Chinese university over national security concerns after five Chinese students were <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/02/us/5-chinese-nationals-charged-with-covering-up-midnight-visit-to-michigan-military-site">charged</a> with attempting to mislead investigators about a suspicious late-night trip they took to a Michigan military base in 2023.

University of Michigan

University Policies Under Review After Chinese Researchers Charged With Smuggling Biohazards

Department of Justice

Michigan

research

Trump Administration

The latest data from the Consumer Price Index released on Wednesday showed — for the third straight month — that President Donald Trump&#8217;s tariffs have had little effect on Americans&#8217; wallets, defying economists&#8217; expectations.
The CPI rose 2.4% in May compared to last year, which was a slight increase from the 2.3% reported in April, according to the <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm">Bureau of Labor Statistics</a>. Despite the continued solid numbers, economists and top Fed officials still predict price increases from Trump&#8217;s tariffs to hit over the summer, MarketWatch <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/inflation-still-not-showing-tariff-related-increase-cpi-shows-fed-expected-to-stay-on-hold-c9cfa941">reported</a>. The Wednesday CPI report was celebrated by Trump, who urged the Fed to lower the interest rates by &#8220;ONE FULL POINT.&#8221;
&#8220;CPI JUST OUT. GREAT NUMBERS! FED SHOULD LOWER ONE FULL POINT,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114665067086649498">posted</a> on Truth Social. &#8220;WOULD PAY MUCH LESS INTEREST ON DEBT COMING DUE. SO IMPORTANT!!!&#8221;
While the index for food increased slightly in May after falling in April, energy and gas indexes decreased by 1% and 2.6% from last month, respectively. Prices also dropped for used cars, plane tickets, and clothing, which is mainly imported from foreign countries and subject to Trump&#8217;s stiff duties, MarketWatch reported.
&#8220;Core inflation,&#8221; which takes out food and energy prices and is used as a more stable indicator of the future economy, increased by 0.1% from last month, which was below economists&#8217; predictions. Year-over-year &#8220;core inflation&#8221; remained steady at 2.8%. Wells Fargo senior economist Michael Pugliese told <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/11/economy/us-consumer-price-index-may">CNN</a> the report was a &#8220;good reading&#8221; on inflation but added that he believes &#8220;it’s too early to draw any conclusions from whether the tariffs are having ‘X’ effect or ‘Y’ effect.”
Some economists argue that Americans haven&#8217;t been hit by price increases yet because businesses loaded up their inventories before Trump&#8217;s tariffs went into effect and have been able to hold off on hiking prices, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/11/business/cpi-may-inflation-tariffs.html">reported</a>.
The CPI report was released as President Trump announced that a trade deal had been reached with China and that it awaits “final approval” from him and Chinese President Xi Jinping, as The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-unveils-terms-of-done-trade-deal-with-china?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Trump+Unveils+Terms+Of+%E2%80%98Done%E2%80%99+Trade+Deal+With+China">reported</a>. The deal includes an agreement on rare earth minerals, tariffs, and allowing Chinese students to study at American universities. A trade deal with China would mark the most significant step taken by the Trump administration on the economy since the president imposed massive tariffs on nearly every country in the world.
Under the agreement, however, the United States would still impose a 55% tariff on Chinese products while American goods would still be hit with a 10% tariff from China, according to Trump.

‘Great Numbers!’: Report Shows No Significant Tariff-Related Price Jumps For 3rd Straight Month

Economics

In April, President Trump imposed global reciprocal tariffs on the United States’ trading partners, invoking his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977, to address the national <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/04/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-declares-national-emergency-to-increase-our-competitive-edge-protect-our-sovereignty-and-strengthen-our-national-and-economic-security/">emergency</a> posed by the large and persistent trade deficit” driven by the lack of reciprocity in the country’s trade relationship.
President Trump also wanted to see jobs and factories come “<a href="https://www.business-standard.com/world-news/trump-wants-us-to-make-things-again-but-is-it-ready-for-the-challenge-125060400675_1.html">roaring back</a>” to the United States.
The idea that the United States can become a manufacturing powerhouse is an attractive one, to politicians on both sides of the aisle. After all, who would not be in favor of economic revitalization, new jobs, improved security, and economic independence? However, America’s ability to establish manufacturing dominance faces insurmountable challenges… unless we are smart about the industries we “bring home.”
Historically, the United States has never been a true manufacturing superpower.
Manufacturing employment in the United States peaked in 1979, with nearly 20 million workers employed in the “manufacturing sector.” Over the next four decades, manufacturing entered a structural decline, and the United States transitioned to a service-oriented economy. By 2020, “the <a href="https://www.blackrock.com/us/financial-professionals/insights/exploring-us-manufacturing#:~:text=In%201979%2C%20U.S.%20employment%20in,a%20more%20service%2Doriented%20economy.">service</a> sector dominated the economy,” accounting for 79% of the nation&#8217;s Gross Domestic Product, up from 52% in 1950, and represented 80% of the nation’s total employment. In 2025, fewer than 13 million <a href="https://nam.org/mfgdata/facts-about-manufacturing-expanded/">workers</a> were in the manufacturing sector.
The challenges for the United States to become a manufacturing superpower are many and complex.
First, the country simply does not have the labor pool to do so. The <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/04/adp-jobs-report-may-2025-.html">unemployment</a> rate in May 2025, the latest data available, was approximately 4.2%, near full employment.
The labor <a href="https://www.dol.gov/agencies/wb/data/widget">participation</a> rate is running at 62.6%, which is well below the 67+ percent <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/191734/us-civilian-labor-force-participation-rate-since-1990/">rate</a> seen in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but not low enough to indicate there is a bench of workers waiting to enter the job market and join the manufacturing sector.
In addition, our labor force is one of the highest-paid in the world. In the United States, the average hourly <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t24.htm">wage</a> of a “nonsupervisory manufacturing employee” is approximately $28.80. In 2020, that wage was approximately $6.50 per hour in <a href="https://www.china-briefing.com/news/reshoring-from-china-to-mexico-how-prevalent-is-it-really/#:~:text=The%20hourly%20wage%20for%20manufacturing,over%2012%20percent%20from%202019.">China</a> and $4.82 in Mexico. In <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/744071/manufacturing-labor-costs-per-hour-china-vietnam-mexico/#:~:text=A%20difference%20in%20earnings,and%20Vietnam%20for%20cheaper%20labor.&amp;text=Log%20in%20or%20register%20to%20access%20precise%20data.">Vietnam</a>, the average hourly wage in manufacturing is $3.10.
We simply do not have the workers to compete with less developed nations, and those we do have make too much money to make America competitive with them.
The only answer would be to open our borders and import foreign workers to fill manufacturing openings at suppressed wages. This is something that President Trump rightly opposes, as it would change the make-up of the United States, to the detriment of our national identity.
So, what are we to do?
The United States can reshore its manufacturing, but must do so on a limited, prioritized basis. We should not care where our tennis shoes, blue jeans, or T-shirts are manufactured. Those industries hold no vital interest to the United States.
However, we should prioritize the reshoring of industries such as pharmaceuticals, computer chips, drones, and food additives.
“Approximately 40% of finished pharmaceutical products and 80% of active drug ingredients sold in the U.S. are manufactured overseas, <a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-20-262t">according to a report by the GAO</a>. This includes a significant portion of generic drugs, with roughly 80% being produced overseas.”
China controls 80% of the <a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-research-reports/issue-brief/a-global-strategy-to-secure-uas-supply-chains/">drone</a> market in the United States.
83% of <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/strategy-united-states-regain-its-position-semiconductor-manufacturing#:~:text=And%20as%20to%20semiconductors%2C%2083,capacity%20is%20now%208%20percent.">semiconductors</a> are manufactured outside of the United States.
As a free market capitalist, I do not like the government picking “winning industries,” but there is a national security aspect to consider, and President Trump is doing this.
The <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/pulling-billions-from-harvard-fund-trade-schools-heres-what-people-saying-about-trumps-latest-move">president</a> recently floated the idea of taking the $2.2 billion in frozen assets from Harvard University and using that money to fund trade schools, where people could learn to support the manufacturing that is in the nation’s vital and national interests.
At the end of the day, the United States will never become a manufacturing superpower. Our cost structure and standard of living are simply too high… and that is a good problem to have.
However, we must focus on reshoring those industries that are vital to our national defense and our national interests. With the right focus and incentives, we can quickly achieve this strategic goal and free ourselves from our competitors’ supply chain whims.
* * *
Jim Nelles is a Navy veteran and supply chain consultant based in Chicago. His articles have appeared in the Washington Examiner, Newsweek, Foxnews.com, and The Daily Wire. He has served as a chief procurement officer, chief supply chain officer, and chief operations officer for multiple companies.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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