In this special edition of the Hinrich Foundation’s podcast on global trade, the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents-USA sits down with Stewart Paterson, Senior Research Fellow at the Hinrich Foundation, to unpack China’s rare earth monopoly and strategies taken by the West to break its dominance.

China’s control over rare earth minerals stems less from geology than from decades of industrial strategy, subsidies, lax environmental standards, and dominance over processing and refining. Recent export controls have exposed Western vulnerabilities, many rooted in offshoring and the loss of industrial ecosystems needed for advanced technologies. While the United States, the European Union, and allies have begun responding through legislation, investment, and initiatives such as the Minerals Security Partnership, diversification will take at least a decade and cannot be achieved through one-off interventions. Paterson emphasized that rare earths are only one example of broader hidden dependencies, warning that true economic security requires coordinated, cross-border industrial and trade strategies grounded in geopolitical alignment rather than isolated national solutions.

Tune into this podcast as Stewart Paterson, Senior Research Fellow at the Hinrich Foundation, joins the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents-USA to break down how China built its rare earths monopoly and what it means for global economic security and supply-chain resilience. The podcast follows up on Paterson’s recent paper for the Hinrich Foundation, “Lessons from how China played its rare earth card.”

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Tune into the Hinrich Foundation’s podcast series for insights on international trade

Tune into the Hinrich Foundation’s podcast series for insights on international trade.

In this edition of the Hinrich Foundation’s podcast on global trade, Yuka Hayashi, Vice President of The Asia Group, sits down with former Wall Street Journal senior editor Paul Beckett to unpack the effects of the Trump administration’s tariffs on automakers around the world amid heightened global trade tensions.

The impact of President Trump’s auto tariffs has been uneven, with Japan, South Korea, and Germany most affected due to heavy reliance on US auto exports. Company exposure varies widely — Mitsubishi Motors faces full tariffs due to total imports for US sales, while Tesla and Ford are less affected due to complete domestic production.

Despite the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, Trump imposed steep tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports, citing national security under Section 232. Automakers have partly absorbed costs, but consumer prices are rising. The competition for auto production is fuelling political and economic strains globally.

Tune into this podcast as Yuka Hayashi, Vice President of The Asia Group, joins former Wall Street Journal senior editor Paul Beckett, in an interview hosted by the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents-USA and supported by the Hinrich Foundation, to break down how Trump’s auto tariffs are reshaping global supply chains as key automakers are hit and trade relations become strained. The podcast follows up on The Asia Group’s recent paper for the Hinrich Foundation, “Tariffs hit some automakers more than others.”

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Tune into the Hinrich Foundation’s podcast series for insights on international trade.

In this special edition of the Hinrich Foundation’s podcast on global trade, Bloomberg's technology editor Vlad Savov sits down with Hinrich Foundation research contributor Michael Enright, professor in Global Business at Northeastern University, to unpack how smartphones have become a central battleground in the US-China tech rivalry.

The smartphone industry has become a key front in the US-China tech rivalry, with Chinese brands holding 60% of the global market share. China's industrial policies, such as Made in China 2025, have been crucial in advancing its tech sector though Chinese firms still rely on foreign technology. The US-China trade tensions have led to a decoupling in tech, but deep interdependence in manufacturing makes full separation difficult. Enright presents that going forward, both nations will likely pursue separate supply chains, with the US leading in advanced tech while global manufacturing becomes more dispersed. Both the governments and the tech companies will need to delicately balance the cost, competitiveness, and strategic independence in a rapidly shifting trade environment.

Tune into this podcast as Michael Enright, Pierre Choueiri Family Professor in Global Business at Northeastern University, joins Bloomberg tech editor Vlad Savov in a podcast co-organized by the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents-USA and the Hinrich Foundation to break down how smartphones now represent a convergence of national security, corporate interests, and supply chain economics in the US-China technology competition. The podcast follows up on Enright’s recent article for the Hinrich Foundation, "China’s smartphone producers take on the world."

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Tune into the Hinrich Foundation’s podcast series for insights on international trade.