Una visita del presidente chino, Xi Jinping, a una planta de procesamiento de tierras raras compartió un mensaje claro para muchos observadores: EU también tiene vulnerabilidades tecnológicas.
La amenaza del presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, de cortar el suministro de chips y procesadores a Huawei, está afectando a la compañía de tecnología más grande de China donde le duele: su dependencia de otros países para los semiconductores y el software en teléfonos inteligentes y equipos de red.
Entonces, cuando el presidente chino, Xi Jinping, hizo una aparición días después en una planta de procesamiento de tierras raras, muchos observadores vieron un mensaje en la visita: EU también tiene vulnerabilidades tecnológicas.
1. ¿Qué son las tierras raras?
Se trata de un grupo de 17 elementos químicamente relacionados encontrados en forma mineral, los cuales tienen propiedades magnéticas y ópticas útiles para crear dispositivos electrónicos más eficientes.
Los fabricantes de vehículos eléctricos confían en ellos para componentes de baterías y motores más livianos, mientras que los aerogeneradores grandes tienden a usar imanes de tierras raras.
También son componentes frecuentes de objetos cotidianos, como diodos emisores de luz (LED), que se utilizan para iluminar los teléfonos inteligentes y los tableros de puntuación en los estadios.
2. ¿Qué tan raras son?
No son tan raros como otros metales preciosos como el oro o la plata. Sin embargo, generalmente están tan entremezclados con otros minerales que su extracción y refinamiento son costosos, particularmente cuando la minería cumple con los estándares ambientales de los países desarrollados.
3. ¿Quién las controla?
China y otras partes del sudeste asiático dominan tanto la extracción como el procesamiento de tierras raras.
El país representó 71 por ciento de la producción minera de tierras raras del mundo el año pasado, según la Encuesta geológica de Estados Unidos. Australia y EU fueron subcampeones distantes, que en conjunto produjeron menos de un tercio de las 120 mil toneladas métricas de China.
Estados Unidos dependió de China para aproximadamente cuatro de cada cinco toneladas de importaciones de tierras raras entre 2014 y 2017, y el año pasado compró un total de 160 millones de dólares, 17 por ciento más que el año anterior.
Fuera de China, las mayores reservas de tierras raras del mundo también se encuentran en Brasil, Vietnam y Rusia. Una caída en los precios en los últimos años ha hecho que la apertura de nuevas fuentes sea poco atractiva.
4. ¿Qué papel han desempeñado en la guerra comercial?
No mucho hasta ahora. El presidente Trump eximió las importaciones de tierras raras de EE.UU. de las últimas rondas de aranceles impuestos a los productos chinos, después de incluirlos en la ronda previa. China recientemente incluyó tierras raras en un lote de aranceles que elevó de 10% a 25% sobre las importaciones estadounidenses, en represalia a una expansión de los aranceles de EE.UU. por parte de Trump. Una compañía de Mountain Pass, California, llamada MP Materials –el único productor estadounidense de tierras raras– vende gran parte de su mineral a China. El director ejecutivo de su dueño mayoritario dijo la semana pasada que «es preciso llamar a esto un arancel unilateral y específico».
5. ¿Por qué fue importante la visita de Xi?
Después de que Xi y su principal negociador comercial, el viceprimer ministro Liu He, visitaran una instalación de tierras raras en China, los analistas especulan que los materiales estratégicos podrían utilizarse como arma a medida que aumentan las tensiones comerciales. En medio de la retórica cada vez más dura de China a medida que continúan las negociaciones comerciales, la visita plantea una pregunta sobre si los aranceles a las importaciones de EE.UU. podrían ser solo el comienzo y conducir a una prohibición u otra restricción a las exportaciones de tierras raras al país. Y no sería la primera vez que China perjudica la competencia al restringir el comercio de los minerales. Durante 15 años, el país impuso límites comerciales, incluidos cuotas y aranceles, a las exportaciones de tierras raras. Las restricciones fueron desechadas en 2015, después de que la Organización Mundial de Comercio determinara que violaban las normas comerciales.
BLOOMBERG / JUSTINA VASQUEZ
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