Does China’s involvement in the Congo endanger U.S. security?

At the beginning of this year China Molybdenum Co Ltd. a Chinese private equity firm, acquired a majority stake in a massive copper and cobalt mine in Congo’s Katanga province. The deal cost CMCOL $2.56 billion and is only a fraction of the $6 billion loan that the Chinese Exim Bank made to the DRC in 2009. The loan went to improve Congo’s infrastructure and mining operations and, despite setbacks, the DRC government claims it has brought results.

While the Chinese mining companies have been expanding, western ones retreat from the area. Eurasian Resources Group BV in London are getting rid of 1,300 mining jobs in Congo while the Trafigura Beheer BV’s Mawson West Ltd from Amsterdam have placed its Kapulo mine on care and maintenance.

While Europeans have been cutting back, U.S. trade relation with the Congo have remained stagnant in comparison to China whose trade with the country has grown exponentially. In fact, in 2014 the volume of Chinese trade with the Congo was $4.33 billion, which was 12 times greater than that of the U.S. Without competitive trading interests in places like the Congo U.S. could be at risk of losing control of supply chains for minerals critical to its military. Conversely, if China corners the market on critical rare earth minerals, it will have the capability to disrupt essential U.S. defense supply chains.

For example, by acquiring the cobalt mines in the Congo China now has control over a metal that is an important component in lithium ion batteries. These batteries are used by the U.S. military to power many of their equipment, including terrain vehicles and aircraft.

Beijing is already the largest producer of another key component in lithium ion batteries, graphite. Analyst Simon Moorse from Benchmark Mineral Intelligence says that China has reached its peak in graphite production, but graphite mines in other countries are still being developed. This means Beijing will probably control the graphite supply chain for a long time.

Besides the supply chains for graphite and cobalt China also has a significant share of the tantalum market, another key component in modern day electronics. Tantalum is a heavy metal with a high melting point whose uses range from military aircraft to IPods. The DRC and China are some of the world’s largest producers of tantalum.

Most of Congo’s tantalum is processed by China. At the same time China’s own reserves are being exploited at a greater rate than before. This allowed Beijing to become the main supplier of tantalum for U.S. companies.

The control of cobalt, graphite, and tantalum supply chains could allow China to jeopardize the effectiveness of U.S. military. Without these minerals the U.S. would not be able to power its army or procure basic electronics.

Given the current international climate Beijing might try to cut off its exports of graphite, cobalt, and tantalum to the U.S.

China’s People’s Liberation Army has been revving up its offensive posture with a commentary on the army’s website declaring that the danger of war with the U.S. has become more real. While the state media threatened President Trump with “big sticks” if he tries to initiate a trade war.

Beijing’s response to any U.S. moves on the East China Sea or attempts to enact protectionist trade policies might include stopping the exports lithium ion batteries and tantalum. If the supply chain is disrupted the U.S. military might find it hard to procure batteries to power their communication systems and other equipment. China’s attempts to control a large share of the graphite, cobalt, and tantalum market are a strategic concern for the Department of Defense.