China Is Hoarding Minerals Used for Smartphones and iPads, Obama Warns

[SamuelRSmith]

Porcupine_I said:

SamuelRSmith said:

manuel said:
It's their stuff, so they can do what they want. No?

No. I've pointed out in above posts that, as a member of WTO, they have certain obligations. This breaks one of those obligations, and so the USA, Japan, and Europe are taking this to the WTO to get something done about it. WTO is supposed to encourage as much free trade as possible between nations, this is a massive protectionist policy which the WTO has rules against. You can't get all the benefits of the WTO, while breaking the rules.

As some would say, you can't have the cake, and eat it.

off topic, but what does that even mean?

if i have a cake, i eat it!

It's just a turn of phrase, I don't know what the exact wording means.

Basically, I take it to mean - you can either be the one who cuts the cake, or the person who chooses the slice. You can't be both (if you're sharing a cake, that is. If you're eating a cake on your own a) do what you want; b) you have a severe eating disorder).