Critics say this unfairly helps Chinese companies in the production of high-technology products.
And,they say,it is a violation of World Trade Organization rules.
President Obama explained why the United States was involved in the case.
He said American manufactrers use rare earth materials to make high-tech products like advanced batteries.
‘’We want our companies building those products right here in America,’’he said.
To do that China supplies.
In the president’s words, ‘’If China would simply let the market work on its own,we’d have no objections.’’
But he said Chinese policies ‘’go against the very rules that China agreed to follow.
‘’China says it has restricted rare earth exports to meet needs at home.
And it says its policy helps limit the environmental damage caused by over-mining.
China now faces a slowing economy.
In February,the nation had its biggest trade deficit in ten years.
Experts expect China’s central bank to increase the money supply to aid economic growth.
At the same time,inflation remains a threat.
On March fourteenth,Premier Wen Jiabao discussed the need for reform.
China,in his words, ‘’mst continue to strike a balance between maintaining steady and robust economic development,making economic structural adjustments and managing inflationary expectations.
‘’For voa Special English,I’m Alex Villarreal.
Get more bsiness news and learn English at voaspecialenglish.com.
I’m Mario Ritter with the VOA Special English Economics Report.
Food prices are at their highest level since the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization began keeping records in nineteen ninety.
The causes include bad weather and growing demand.
Some exports also blame the use of food crops to make fel.
But higher food prices are not always the result of limited supplies.
Coffee prices have jumped almost fifty percent in six months.
Prices have reached a thirteen-year high.
Yet growers expect their current crop to be almost ten percent bigger than the last one.
JM Smucker is an American company known for its jellies and fruit spreads.
But Smucker also owns Folgers,America’s top-selling packaged coffee.
And it owns Dnkin’Donuts,which sells coffee to wash down the doughnuts at its stores.
In February,Smucker said it would raise the prices of its coffee products an average of ten percent.
It said the increase is driven by the higher prices for coffee beans.
Experts say coffee prices are rising mainly becase people are willing to pay more.
Coffee sellers like Mark Warmuth say tastes are changing and more people want a good cup of coffee.
Mark Warmuth owns the M.E. Swing Coffee Company in Alexandria,Virginia,near Washington.
He says big coffee sellers like Starbucks help his bsiness by building a base of customers who want something better.
He said people are seeking something better than what they can buy at Starbucks.
They are seeking out smaller,boutique,artisan,craft coffee roasters,like his company.
Yet Mr. Warmth can thank those bigger companies like Starbucks for spreading the idea of coffee as an affordable luxury.