China’s 5,000-ton digging machines are a trade war risk to India

China has gotten a lot of bargaining power out of its near-monopoly over rare earths. Now it’s looking to repeat the trick in a more mundane industry – and perhaps squeeze a key Asian rival.

Beijing’s newest export controls target construction equipment — including tunnel-boring machines, some of the world’s largest and most complex industrial devices. They’re used to build subways or drill roads and railways through mountains. China dominates the global market and India is among its main customers.

Building sites might not be an obvious chokepoint in the global economy — unlike the AI technologies that Beijing has also proposed adding to its restricted list, or the rare earths used in smartphones and high-tech weapons. What’s more, China’s grip on this industry is strong but not absolute, and seeking to turn it into leverage could spur others to catch up.

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