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The Obama administration is bringing a new trade case against China that seeks to pressure Beijing to end export restrictions on key materials used to manufacture hybrid car batteries, flat-screen televisions and other high-tech goods. The latest action, announced Tuesday, is part of President Barack Obama's broader effort to crack down on what his administration sees as unfair trading practices by a rising economic power that have put American companies at a competitive disadvantage. The U.S. asked the World Trade Organization to facilitate talks with China over its curtailment of exports of rare earth minerals. The U.S. is bringing the case to the WTO along with the European Union and Japan.

China has a stranglehold on the global supply of 17 rare earth minerals that are essential for making high-tech goods, including hybrid cars, weapons, flat-screen TVs, mobile phones, mercury-vapor lights, smartphones and camera lenses. The materials also are used in the manufacture of tiny motors, such as those used to raise and lower car windows and in consumer electronics. China has reduced its export quotas of these rare earth minerals over the past several years.
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Rare earth minerals are scattered throughout the Earth's crust, but only in small quantities, making them hard to mine. However, rich deposits of these rare earth oxides are in China, giving it command of the market.
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The president used an executive order last month to create a new trade enforcement agency — the Interagency Trade Enforcement Center — to move aggressively against China and other nations. In announcing the new agency, Obama said it would bring "the full resources of the federal government to bear" in order to level the playing field for U.S. workers. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, a leading candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, has criticized Obama for not taking a stronger stand on China, specifically over Beijing's efforts to manipulate its currency. Romney has said that, if elected, he would label China a currency manipulator on his first day in office, a move that could lead to trade sanctions against China. Under the terms of the WTO complaint, China has 10 days to respond and must hold talks with the U.S., E.U. and Japan within 60 days. If an agreement cannot be reached within that time frame, the U.S. and its partners could request a formal WTO panel to investigate Chinese practices. More at http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2108915,00.html

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