On Air Force fighter jets, magnets made of rare earth minerals that are mined or processed in China are needed to start the engines and provide emergency power.

在在空军的战斗机上，中国开采或加工的稀土矿物制成的磁铁用来启动发动机并提供应急动力。

On precision-guided ballistic missiles favored by the Army, magnets containing Chinese rare earth materials rotate the tail fins that allow missiles to home in on small or moving targets. And on new electric and battery-powered drones being adapted by Marines, rare earth magnets are irreplaceable in the compact electric motors.

在陆军青睐的精确制导弹道导弹上，含有中国稀土材料的磁铁旋转尾翼使导弹能够瞄准小型或移动目标。在海军陆战队正在改装的新型电动和电池驱动无人机上，稀土磁铁在小巧的电动机中不可或缺。

China’s decision to retaliate against President Trump’s sharp increase in tariffs by ordering restrictions on the exports of a wide range of critical minerals and magnets is a warning shot across the bow of American national security, industry and defense experts said.

工业和国防专家表示，中国决定对特朗普总统大幅提高关税进行报复，下令限制一系列关键矿物和磁体的出口，这是对美国国家安全发出的警告。

In announcing that it will now require special export licenses for six heavy rare earth metals, which are refined entirely in China, as well as rare earth magnets, 90 percent of which are produced in China, Beijing has reminded the Pentagon — if, indeed, it needed reminding — that a wide swath of American weaponry is dependent on China.

北京宣布将对六种完全在中国提炼的重稀土金属以及90%在中国生产的稀土磁铁要求特殊出口许可，这提醒了五角大楼——如果还需要提醒的话——大量的美国武器依赖中国。

“This decision is hugely consequential for our national security,” said Gracelin Baskaran, director of the Critical Minerals Security Program with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

战略与国际研究中心关键矿产安全项目主任格拉塞林·巴斯卡兰说：“这一决定对我们的国家安全影响重大。”

Beijing, by beginning with what one Air Force official called a “heads-up” shot meant to signal how much more harm it could inflict should it choose, has left itself plenty of room to escalate. Beijing could also move on from the licensing restrictions to impose tariffs, quotas or even an all-out ban.

一名空军官员称这是北京在“鸣枪示警”，意在表明它可以造成多大的伤害——如果它选择那么做，同时给自己留出了很大的升级空间。北京也可能从许可证限制转向征收关税、配额，甚至全面禁止。

Rare earths are a group of 17 elements, including neodymium, yttrium, scandium and dysprosium, that are difficult to separate into usable forms. They are not actually rare at all but can be difficult to extract from the earth, and the process of mining and refining them into usable form carries substantial environmental costs.

稀土是指包括钕、钇、钪和镝的17种元素，这些元素很难分离成可用的形式。稀土其实一点也不稀有，只是很难从土壤中提取出来，而且开采和提炼成可用形式的过程会带来巨大的环境成本。

They are present in almost every form of American defense technology. They can form very powerful magnets, for use in fighter jets, warships, missiles, tanks and lasers. Yttrium is required for high-temperature jet engine coatings; it allows thermal barrier coatings on turbine blades to stop aircraft engines from melting midflight.

它们几乎存在于美国所有形式的国防技术中。它们可以形成非常强大的磁铁，用于战斗机、军舰、导弹、坦克和激光器。高温喷气发动机涂层需要用钇在涡轮叶片上形成隔热层，防止飞机发动机在飞行途中熔化。

According to the Defense Department, every F-35 fighter contains around 900 pounds of rare earth materials. Some submarines need more than 9,200 pounds of the materials.

根据国防部的说法，每架F-35战斗机含有大约900磅（约合408公斤）稀土材料。一些潜艇需要超过9200磅。

Across the American defense industry, aerospace and weapons companies have small stockpiles of the rare earths — the industry term for the 17 elements. That is enough, defense industry analysts say, to meet their needs for months rather than years.

在整个美国国防工业中，航空航天和武器公司只有少量的稀土储备——“稀土”是业内对这17种元素的称呼。国防工业分析人士称，这些储备只能满足几个月而不是几年的需求。

The Pentagon also has stockpiles of some rare earths, but those reserves are not enough to sustain defense companies indefinitely, one official said.

一名官员称，五角大楼也有一些稀土储备，但不足以无限期地维持国防公司的运转。

虽然五角大楼和国防工业公司有一些稀土储备，但只能满足美国国防工业几个月而不是几年的需求。

“China mines and refines most of the world’s rare earths, and dominates the downstream supply chain,” said Aaron Jerome, a trader at Lipmann Walton and Co., a metals trading company based in Britain. That supply-chain dominance allows Beijing some say over just how much weaponry that is dependent on the rare earths will cost, giving it enormous power over America’s defense industrial base.

“中国开采和提炼了世界上大部分的稀土，并主导了下游的供应链，”总部位于英国的金属贸易公司利普曼·沃尔顿公司的交易员亚伦·杰罗姆说。在供应链上的主导地位让北京在一定程度上左右依赖稀土的武器的成本，因此令它对美国的国防工业基础拥有巨大的影响力。

Mr. Jerome pointed to what he called “the F-35 magnet debacle.” Back in 2022, the Pentagon temporarily stopped deliveries of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 after the manufacturer acknowledged that an alloy made in China was in a component of the stealth fighter jet, violating federal defense acquisition rules.

杰罗姆提到他所称的“F-35磁铁惨败”。2022年，在洛克希德·马丁公司承认隐形战斗机的一个部件中使用了中国制造的合金，违反了联邦国防采购规定，五角大楼随后暂时停止了该公司对F-35的交付。

At the time, the Pentagon said a magnet containing the alloy used in part of the integrated power package posed no security problem.

当时，五角大楼表示，集成电源组件中使用的含有合金的磁铁不会造成安全问题。

But just one month later, the Pentagon allowed the deliveries to continue while it looked for another source for the magnets. Wherever the magnets are coming from now, some component of it is controlled by Beijing’s lock on the supply chain, Mr. Jerome said.

但仅仅一个月后，五角大楼就允许该公司在寻找磁铁其他来源的同时继续供货。杰罗姆说，无论现在的磁铁来自哪里，其中的某些部分都受制于北京的供应链控制。

With Beijing now requiring that its exporters of rare earths first receive express permission from the government before sending the material to the United States, American defense companies may see prices shoot up soon, industry experts said.

行业专家表示，由于北京现在要求其稀土出口商在向美国出口稀土材料之前首先要得到政府的明确许可，美国国防公司可能很快就会看到价格飙升。

As recently as the 1980s, the United States was a leader in rare earth production, through the Mountain Pass mine in California. But by 2002, Mountain Pass had shut down, with China dominating the market. Mountain Pass is now owned by MP Materials and is operating again, but it does not come close to Chinese production, industry experts said.

就在20世纪80年代，美国还是稀土生产的领导者，主要依靠加利福尼亚的帕斯山矿。但到2002年，帕斯山已经关闭，中国主导了市场。行业专家表示，帕斯山现在归MP材料公司所有，并已重新开始运营，但其产量无法与中国相提并论。

The Aerospace Industries Association, representing defense contractors, two years ago called again for the United States to shore up its minerals supply chain to better secure access for the industry.

代表国防承包商的航空航天工业协会两年前再次呼吁美国加强其矿产供应链，更好地确保该行业的准入。

“U.S. global leadership in aerospace and defense hinges on a secure and resilient supply chain — particularly for the critical minerals used in the production of cutting-edge aircraft technology,” Eric Fanning, the organization’s president, said at the time.

航空航天工业协会主席埃里克·范宁当时表示：“在航空航天和国防领域的全球领导地位取决于一个安全和有弹性的供应链——特别是用于生产尖端飞机技术的关键矿物。”

China has flexed its muscle over the rare earth supply chain in the past. In 2010, Beijing halted rare earths trade with Japan following Japan’s detention of a Chinese fishing trawler captain. The Chinese move caught the attention of the United States, alerting it to the threat posed by China’s control over the minerals’ supply chain.

中国过去也曾在稀土供应链方面展示实力。2010年，在日本扣押一名中国渔船船长后，北京停止了与日本的稀土贸易。中国的举动引起了美国的注意，令美国警觉中国的稀土供应链控制所构成的威胁。

In 2017, during his first term, Mr. Trump signed an executive order aimed at boosting U.S. domestic production, and President Joseph R. Biden Jr. followed suit during his administration, allocating even more money for rare earth extraction and refinement facilities.

2017年，特朗普总统在其第一个任期内签署了一项旨在促进美国国内生产的行政命令，拜登总统在2010年也采取了同样的做法，为稀土开采和提炼设施拨出了更多资金。

The Pentagon has been adding to its stockpile since the 2010 episode involving Japan, and “we have more of a stockpile than we did 15 years ago,” said Dan Blumenthal, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. But, he added, “that will not last long enough.” American defense companies, he said, “should be very worried.”

美国企业研究所高级研究员丹·布卢门撒尔称，自2010年日本那次事件以来，五角大楼一直在增加稀土储备，“我们的储备比15年前好一些了，”但还是“维持不了多久”。他说，美国国防公司“应该非常担心”。

There is historical precedent for the United States’ finding alternatives to crucial elements and minerals during wartime. In World War II, German U-boats sank many Allied cargo ships carrying bauxite from Suriname. “We would potentially have lost the war if we did not get alternative sources for bauxite,” said Seth G. Jones, author of the upcoming book “The American Edge: The Military Tech Nexus and the Sources of Great Power Dominance.”

美国在战时寻找关键元素和矿物的替代品是有历史先例的。在第二次世界大战中，德国U型潜艇击沉了许多从苏里南运送铝土矿的盟军货船。“如果没有找到铝土矿的替代来源，我们可能会输掉这场战争，”即将出版的新书《美国优势：军事技术联系和大国优势的来源》(The American Edge: the Military Tech Nexus and the sources of Great Power Dominance)的作者赛斯·琼斯说。

The United States turned to Arkansas and built a large stockpile of bauxite, used to build airplanes, from mines there.

后来美国转向阿肯色州，在那里的矿山中开采大量用于制造飞机的铝土矿。