#graphite-tariffs

#graphite-tariffs

In late 2025, the United States shocked the world by suspending global health aid, leading experts to predict 700,000 additional deaths annually, primarily among children. This prompted the US to propose unusual bilateral health agreements with developing countries, which have drawn criticism for being exploitative.

South Korea imports about 45 percent of its naphtha, a critical petrochemical feedstock, with roughly 77 percent of those imports historically arriving from the Middle East. That supply line is now, for all practical purposes, severed.

On average, fuel prices are up almost a dollar per gallon, or 25 percent, according to AAA. For a nation as addicted to the automotive as we are, that's bad news. Except, of course, for electric vehicles.

China controls the overwhelming majority of global rare earth processing capacity, a figure that has remained structurally stable for nearly two decades despite sustained Western policy attention. The problem has never been geology. It's always been industrial chemistry at scale.

BYD, the world's biggest car seller, unveiled a new battery giving its latest electric models more than 600 miles of range. Remarkably, the Chinese motor-maker said 250 miles of range could be injected into its new batteries in just five minutes. If true, the last remaining advantages of petrol cars—long range and quick refuelling—are beginning to disappear.

Nvidia has stopped production of chips intended for the Chinese market, betting that regulatory barriers in Washington and Beijing will continue to limit sales to China. The theory was that, because the H200 chips were less powerful than NVIDIA's cutting-edge chips, China could not use them to supercharge its AI advances.

Korea Zinc, which it described as one of the world's largest smelters, is in talks with major US technology firms to recycle data center waste and extract rare earth. The move comes almost one year to the day after China announced immediate export controls on seven more rare earth elements critical to enterprise IT hardware manufacturing.

Demand for lithium is fueling a modern-day gold rush. The industries that define our modern world, like artifiial intelligence (AI), robotics, EVs, and energy, all depend on lithium, which is used to make batteries and other energy storage systems. Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella believes that the AI race will be won based on energy costs, not on who has the best models.That's why lithium demand is projected to grow a staggering 5X by 2040.

A "guidance document" released by the EU on Monday gives instructions for Chinese EV manufacturers on making price offers for battery EVs, including minimum import prices and other details. The EU had imposed tariffs of up to 35.3% on Chinese EV imports in 2024 following an anti-subsidy investigation. The EU said that minimum import prices must be set at a level "appropriate to remove the injurious effects of the subsidization." Chinese EV manufacturers' plans for investments within the EU will also be considered, it said.

Nvidia's H200 GPUs could begin trickling into China as soon as this quarter, but there's a catch. Due to all the geopolitical turmoil that's ravaged US-China trade relations over the past year, buyers may need to pay up front for the coveted AI accelerators. And they won't get a refund if China decides to block the imports! On Thursday, Bloomberg reported that authorities in Beijing could green-light shipments of H200s - currently the most powerful GPU Uncle Sam has ever allowed Nvidia to sell in China - as soon as this quarter.

Berlin's newly announced program, reported on by various outlets, grants buyers of new electrified vehicles between $1,700 and $7,000. This figure depends on several factors, including the powertrain of the vehicle and income level of the buyer, but is meant to help revive stagnant sales one of Germany's key industries. Photo by: Scout Motors For the first time EREVsvehicles where batteries power the wheels and are recharged by a small combustion enginewill explicitly be eligible under the new program.

However, a study by financial analyst S&P Global estimates that worldwide production of the metal will peak in 2030 at 33 million metric tons, while demand is forecast to continue growing to reach 42 million metric tons by 2040 - a 50 percent increase from current levels, creating a supply shortfall of about 10 million metric tons without meaningful expansion.

Less than a year ago, automakers found themselves on the cusp of tariff hell. Car companies were suddenly hit with a gut-punch of tariffs on their supply chains and completed vehicles. The U.S. imposed some hefty import duties on all things China in the hopes of protecting domestic manufacturers. Now President Trump is welcoming Chinese cars into the U.S.as long as they build them here.