Rare earth elements (REEs) are essential to the so-called green economy, used for everything from smartphones and tablets to electric vehicles and wind turbines.
“Once a product leaves North America and is destined for China, you no longer see that product coming back, you only see the final product, a phone, a car, a wind turbine — you would never see the actual material come back,” Hussein adds.
You know what this reminds me of? What happens when you send raw materials Down South to the USA. When the uranium mined in Saskatchewan goes to the USA, does it come back in anything but final products? What about the other metals and minerals that go to the USA? Anybody ever seen it come back in raw form?
“Once a product leaves North America and is destined for China, you no longer see that product coming back, you only see the final product, a phone, a car, a wind turbine — you would never see the actual material come back,” Hussein adds.
But that’s… That’s how it works. Raw materials aren’t shipped around the world for fun. Why would anyone ship a ton of iron or wood to China and then have China ship it back unchanged?
We don’t need the material back. If we needed the material we wouldn’t have sold it in the first place?
Ya, I agree OC’s comment didn’t make much sense in that regard. Maybe what they were meaning to say (and I’d agree with) is that we need more value-add economy instead of just being a resource exporter.
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