President Obama announced a new trade enforcement action on Tuesday against China over the export of minerals crucial to manufacturing electronics. CQ's Ben Weyl reports the U.S., the E.U. and Japan requested World Trade Organization consultations after China, which controls as much as 97 percent of the world market in rare-earth minerals, began limiting overseas sales recently. Lawmakers from both parties are concerned about potential shortages in minerals like scandium, yttrium and lanthanum, which are necessary to create components for wind turbines, cell phones and missiles, among numerous other hi-tech products.
Quotable: "[I]f China would simply let the market work on its own, we’d have no objections. But their policies currently are preventing that from happening. And they go against the very rules that China agreed to follow. Being able to manufacture advanced batteries and hybrid cars in America is too important for us to stand by and do nothing." -- President Obama“Everyone from computer manufacturers to military aircraft suppliers are seeing the supply limited and the cost driven up by the Chinese practice of rationing. We believe in a global marketplace but it’s essential that all players use the same rulebook.” -- New TechAmerica CEO Shawn Osborne, getting right to work.
TechAmerica Names Shawn Osborne President & CEO: The influential trade group TechAmerica announced the hiring of Shawn Osborne to be President and CEO on Tuesday, effective immediately. Osborne joins TechAmerica after spending 14 years as president and CEO of Ulticom, a software provider he helped take public. He previously served as Board Chair of the Telecommunications Industry Association. Osborne replaces Phillip Bond, who left TechAmerica in October to start his own lobbying firm. Apple Subpoenaed By FTC As Part Of Google Probe: The Federal Trade Commission subpoenaed Apple as part of its antitrust probe of Google, according to a report from Bloomberg. The agency is seeking information on the agreements that made Google the preferred search engine on Apple's iPhone and iPad. The subpoena is part of a broader investigation of whether Google has abused its dominance of the search market to promote its own businesses. Google and Apple are also competitors in the smartphone business, with their respective platforms ranking first and second in market share.