【英语国际】美国重整稀土战略

The US is scrambling to resume production of raw materials vital for defence equipment and green technology in response to rising fears about Chinese dominance of the sector.

The push follows moves by Beijing, which controls more than 90 per cent of production, to restrict exports of “rare earths” – which have a range of sophisticated uses from precision-guided weapons, night vision and radar systems to green technologies such as hybrid cars and wind turbines.

Rare earths are 17 chemically similar metallic elements – such as europium, yttrium and lanthanum – that have unique magnetic, optical and other properties crucial for miniaturisation, lasers and energy efficiency.

The Department of Energy is due in coming weeks to set out a strategy to increase US production, find substitute materials and use rare earths more efficiently. The Pentagon will complete a study of the US military’s dependency.

“We are certainly putting our country at risk in terms of our national security and our economic security if we don’t do something to ensure that we have an adequate supply,” said Kathy Dahlkemper, a congresswoman who has written legislation aimed at making the US self-sufficient in five years. She hopes her bill can come to a vote in the full House this week.

The challenges are steep. A report by the Government Accountability Office said in April that rebuilding the US’s supply chain for rare earths could take up to 15 years and would require patents currently held by foreign companies.

Other studies have suggested that China’s export cutbacks are likely to continue because of its own burgeoning demand and its drive to use domestically produced raw materials for its high-tech exports.

While China denied claims last week by Tokyo that it had blocked rare earth exports to Japan amid diplomatic tensions between the two governments, Beijing has steadily raised export duties and cut quotas worldwide this year.

“Diverse global supply chains are important for any critical materials, including rare earths – recent incidents underscore this,” said David Sandalow, the assistant secretary at the energy department who outlined the push for a new US strategy.

Brett Lambert, an industrial policy director at the Pentagon, added that his department had a dedicated team working on rare earths and planned to issue a comprehensive review in October. He said the US remained confident that its forces “have access to any and all materials necessary”, while recognising “the importance some of these elements have for both our supply chain and certain military systems”.

Although rare earths are not in fact rare, their extraction is difficult and can often be environmentally hazardous. Beijing began a drive to accelerate its production under the late Deng Xiaoping, the political patriarch, who compared China’s rare earths to Saudi Arabia’s oil.

The US, however, has moved in the opposite direction. While once it was the world’s leading producer, it now mines no rare earths, largely because of environmental and cost concerns. The last US mine closed in 2002, although its owners are now looking for $500m to resume production.

美国正匆忙采取行动，恢复生产国防装备和绿色科技所必需的原材料，以应对各方对中国主导稀土行业日益加剧的忧虑。

美国作出此举之前，北京方面采取措施限制稀土出口。目前中国控制着90%以上的稀土产量，这些材料用于一系列尖端应用场合，从精确制导武器、夜视仪和雷达系统，到绿色科技如混合动力汽车和风力涡轮机。

稀土是指17种化学上相似的金属元素，如铕、钇和镧，它们具有独特的磁性、光学性和其它特性，对微型化、激光和能源效率至关重要。

美国能源部(Department of Energy)将在今后数周内拟定战略，目的是增加美国产量、找到替代材料、并提高稀土使用效率。五角大楼也将完成有关美国军方对稀土依赖度的研究。

“如果我们不采取行动，确保我们有充足的供应，那么在国家安全和经济安全方面，我国肯定将陷入危险境地，”众议员凯茜?德坎佩尔(Kathy Dahlkemper)。她已拟订法案，旨在使美国在5年内实现自给自足。她希望这项法案能够在本周提交众议院全体投票表决。

挑战是严峻的。美国国家审计署(GAO)今年4月的一份报告称，重建美国的稀土供应链可能需要长达15年时间，而且需要目前由外国企业持有的专利。

其它研究似乎表明，中国的出口缩减很可能会继续下去，原因是其本国需求方兴未艾，而且中国正努力使用本国出产的原材料推动高科技出口。

中国否认了日本方面上周的说法，即中国在两国政府之间出现外交紧张之际，叫停了对日本的稀土出口。尽管如此，北京方面已稳步提高出口关税，并在今年削减了针对世界各地的出口配额。

“多元化的全球供应链对任何关键材料（包括稀土）都是重要的，近期事件突显了这一点，”美国能源部助理部长戴维?桑德罗(David Sandalow)表示。他介绍了美方正在制定新战略的努力。

五角大楼工业政策主任布雷特?兰伯特(Brett Lambert)补充称，他的部门有一个专职小组研究稀土问题，计划在10月份发布一份详尽的审议报告。他表示，美国仍有信心认为，其武装部队“能够获得任何及所有必要材料”，同时意识到“其中一些元素对我们的供应链和某些军用系统的重要性”。

虽然稀土实际上并不稀缺，但它们的开采过程难度较大，往往还具有环境危害。中国在当时最高领导人邓小平的指示下开始加快稀土生产。邓小平曾将中国的稀土与沙特阿拉伯的石油相提并论。

而美国则向相反的方向发展。美国一度是全球领先的稀土生产国，但现在不开采任何稀土，主要原因是环境和成本方面的担忧。美国最后一个稀土矿在2002年关闭，尽管其拥有者正在寻觅5亿美元资金以恢复生产。

译者/和风