Markey presses Pentagon on China’s rare-earth policy

A senior House Democrat is pressing the Obama administration for information about alleged Chinese restrictions on the export of rare-earth minerals used in defense and energy technologies, warning of threats to U.S. interests.

Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), who heads the Select Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming, sent a letter Thursday to the Pentagon, the Departments of Commerce and Energy, and the United States Trade Representative outlining his concerns.

Markey’s letter asks about the scope and effect of the alleged restrictions. The letter and his plan to hold a hearing shows that China’s policy on rare earths — which are used in wind turbines and other low-carbon technologies — is receiving high-level political attention on Capitol Hill.

It comes amid conflicting reports about China’s actions.

The New York Times reported Tuesday that China has halted some shipments to the U.S. and Europe, adding to existing limits on Japan’s access, while the state-owned China Daily reported this week that cuts in export quotas are planned. But Chinese officials have pushed back against the reports.

Markey cites the Times story in his letter and notes that “after a month of apparent embargoed shipments to Japan, traders are reporting that some Chinese exporters have unilaterally voided contracts with Japanese customers.”

“I am troubled by this recent turn of events and concerned that the world’s reliance on Chinese rare earth materials, in combination with China’s apparent willingness to use this reliance for leverage in wider international affairs, poses a potential threat to American economic and national security interests,” Markey writes.

Markey is asking Defense Secretary Robert Gates which rare-earth elements are of specific concern to defense applications and the status of the market. “Are these elements now being traded freely or is their export to the United States being restricted by the Chinese government?” Markey writes, while asking similar questions to Energy Secretary Steven Chu about rare earths used in the clean-energy sector.

The letter also asks Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk whether the Chinese are restricting shipments to the U.S., as well as the status of export quotas.

The U.S. trade office has already launched a broad probe of China’s green technology trade practices. The inquiry includes an investigation of the country’s rare-earth export policies.