China’s Export Controls Expose the Western Growth Illusion

Rare earth controls reveal the fragility of Western reindustrialisation

The United States launched its economic offensive against China’s technological rise, its policymakers assumed the power lay in the tools of finance and sanctions. Export bans, entity lists, tariff escalations, and the weaponisation of semiconductor supply chains were designed to crush Beijing’s ambitions. At the heart of this was a belief that the West, backed by capital markets and military alliances, could deny China access to the future. It has not turned out that way. In restricting its exports of rare earth technologies and critical inputs, China has delivered a direct and irreversible blow to the foundation of that strategy. Washington now finds itself trapped in a supply chain maze of its own making, relying on the industrial muscle of the very state it tried to isolate.