KEITH BRADSHER2025年6月10日China’s strict controls on the export of heat-resistant magnets made with rare earth minerals have exposed a major vulnerability in the U.S. military supply chain.中国对稀土矿物制成的耐热磁铁实施严格的出口管制，暴露出美国军事供应链的一个重大软肋。Without these magnets, the United States and its allies in Europe will struggle to refill recently depleted inventories of military hardware.若无法获得这类磁铁，美国及其欧洲盟友将难以补充近期耗尽的军事装备库存。For more than a decade, the United States has failed to develop an alternative to China’s supply of a specific kind of rare earth crucial for the manufacture of magnets for missiles, fighter jets, smart bombs and a lot of other military gear.过去十余年间，美国始终未能建立替代供应链，获取制造导弹、战斗机、智能炸弹等各类军事装备所需的关键稀土资源。Rare earth minerals are a central issue in the trade talks between the United States and China now underway in London.稀土矿产是目前正在伦敦举行的美中贸易谈判的核心议题。China produces the entire world’s supply of samarium, a particularly obscure rare earth metal used almost entirely in military applications. Samarium magnets can withstand temperatures hot enough to melt lead without losing their magnetic force. They are essential for withstanding the heat of fast-moving electric motors in cramped spaces like the nose cones of missiles.中国垄断了钐金属的全球供应，这种鲜为人知的稀土金属几乎全部用于军事领域。钐钴磁体能在足以熔化铅块的高温下保持磁力不衰减，对导弹整流罩等狭小空间内高速运转的电机耐热性能至关重要。On April 4, China halted exports of seven kinds of rare earth metals, as well as magnets made from them. China controls most of the world’s supply of these metals and magnets. China’s Ministry of Commerce declared that these materials had both civilian and military uses, and any further exports would be allowed only with specially issued licenses. The move, according to the ministry, would “safeguard national security” and “fulfill international obligations such as nonproliferation.”4月4日，中国宣布暂停七种稀土金属及其相关物项的出口。中国商务部声明称，这些材料均具军民两用性质，今后出口需凭特别颁发的许可证，此举是为“维护国家安全”、“履行防扩散等国际义务。”The ministry has begun issuing some licenses for magnets that include two of the restricted rare earths, dysprosium and terbium, to automakers in Europe and the United States. Magnets with these two rare earths, which are used in brake and steering systems, can withstand the heat of a nearby gasoline engine but cannot reliably tolerate the greater heat encountered in military applications. But there has been no sign that China has approved exports of samarium, which has few civilian applications.目前中国已开始向欧美汽车制造商发放含镝、铽两种受限稀土的磁铁出口许可，这类用于刹车和转向系统的磁铁可耐受临近汽油发动机的温度，但无法满足军用级别的高温需求。然而，目前没有迹象表明中国已批准钐的出口，因为钐的民用应用很少。Chinese and American officials began on Monday two days of trade talks in London. Restoring the flow of rare earths is a priority for U.S. officials, but few expect China to rescind its new export license system entirely.中美官员本周一在伦敦开启为期两天的贸易谈判。恢复稀土供应是美国政府的优先事项，但外界普遍预计中国不会完全取消新实施的出口许可制度。“I don’t think that’s going away,” said Michael Hart, the president of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, who is coordinating the U.S. private sector’s efforts in Beijing to obtain more rare earth materials.中国美国商会会长何迈可(Michael Hart)表示：“我认为这套制度不会取消。”他正在协调美国私企在华获取更多稀土资源的行动。核动力航母“乔治·华盛顿”号甲板上的一架F-35战斗机。The main American user of samarium is Lockheed Martin, an aerospace and military contractor that puts about 50 pounds of samarium magnets in each F-35 fighter jet. Lockheed Martin responded to questions with a short statement: “We continuously assess the global rare earth supply chain to ensure access to critical materials that support our customers’ missions. Specific questions about the rare earth supply chain will be best addressed by the U.S. government.”钐在美国的主要用户是航空航天和军事承包商洛克希德·马丁公司，每架F-35战斗机上大约要使用23公斤磅钐钴磁体。洛克希德·马丁公司以简短声明回应了提问：“我们持续评估全球稀土供应链，以确保获得支持客户任务的关键材料。有关稀土供应链的具体问题最好由美国政府解答。”Officials in the Biden administration were so concerned about the U.S. military’s lack of a domestic samarium supply that they issued large contracts for the construction of two samarium production facilities. Neither was built because of commercial concerns, leaving the United States entirely dependent on China.拜登政府曾因担忧钐供应安全而签订了建造两个钐生产设施的大额合同，却因商业可行性问题搁浅，导致美国完全依赖中国。The interruption in samarium supplies over the past two months comes as the United States and its allies in Europe are rushing to rebuild inventories of advanced weaponry. These stocks have been severely depleted by shipments to Ukraine after the Russian invasion and, for the United States, to Israel during the Gaza conflict.过去两个月钐供应中断之际，正值美国及其欧洲盟友急欲补充先进武器库存。这些库存因俄罗斯入侵乌克兰后运往乌克兰的军援，以及美国在加沙冲突期间运往以色列的军援而严重消耗。The Trump administration is also trying to supply more weapons to Taiwan, an island democracy over which Beijing claims sovereignty. In addition to halting exports of rare earths for military use, China recently imposed sanctions on some American military contractors because of their roles supplying Taiwan.特朗普政府还试图增加对台军售，北京声称对这个民主岛屿拥有主权。除了停止军用稀土的出口外，中国最近还对涉台军售的美国军火承包商实施了制裁。Those sanctions now bar Chinese companies and individuals from having any financial connection to the U.S. military contractors. That did not have much of an effect on the samarium industry until recently, because China exported samarium to chemical companies that mixed the metal with cobalt before selling it to magnet manufacturers, which then sell to the military contractors.这些制裁措施现在禁止中国企业和个人与美国军事承包商有任何财务关联。直到最近，这对钐产业并没有太大影响，因为中国将钐出口给化工企业，这些公司将钐与钴混合后出售给磁体制造商，后者再出售给军事承包商。But Beijing’s new export controls on rare earths specify that licenses can be issued based only on the final user of the mineral at the end of the supply chain. For samarium licenses, that sometimes means military contractors.但北京新出台的稀土出口管制措施明确规定，许可证的发放将严格依据供应链终端用户的性质进行审批。就钐的出口许可而言，这就意味着终端用户有时候是军火承包商。Of the seven kinds of rare earth metals restricted by China, the demand for six of them is largely civilian, said Stanley Trout, a metallurgist at the Metropolitan State University of Denver who has specialized in samarium magnets since the 1970s.丹佛大都会州立大学冶金学家、自上世纪70年代起专注于钐钴磁体研究的斯坦利·特劳特指出：“中国限制出口的七种稀土金属中，有六种主要需求来自民用领域。”Samarium is different. It is “almost exclusively used for military purposes,” he said.钐则不同。“它几乎完全用于军事目的，”他说。U.S. Defense Department regulations require that the casting or smelting of military magnets be done in the United States or a friendly nation. But the rules allow the ingredients of military magnets to be imported from anywhere, so low-cost samarium has come from China for many years, Mr. Trout said.特劳特指出，美国国防部的规定虽要求军用磁铁的铸造或冶炼必须在美国或盟国完成，但允许原料从任何国家进口，因此多年来低成本的钐一直来自中国。包头的一家稀土精炼厂，摄于周一。Keith Bradsher是《纽约时报》北京分社社长，此前曾任上海分社社长、香港分社社长、底特律分社社长，以及华盛顿记者。他在新冠疫情期间常驻中国进行报道。翻译：纽约时报中文网点击查看本文英文版。获取更多RSS：https://feedx.net https://feedx.site