Japan’s response to China’s latest export controls is likely to be cautious, reflecting both limited options for retaliation and a lack of appetite to escalate an already fraught relationship with its largest trading partner. Beijing’s ban on exporting any dual-use items to Japan for military use — as well as a separate threat to step up rare-earths curbs — strike at well-known vulnerabilities in Japan’s supply chains. China dominates the global processing of many critical minerals and has used that leverage before to pile pressure on trading partners, including Japan and the US.

Full report : China’s Curbs Leave Japan Little Choice But to Look to the US.