China has announced tough new export controls on rare earth elements and related technologies, tightening its grip on critical minerals ahead of upcoming talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Financial Times reports.<\/p>\n
Foreign companies will now be required to obtain Beijing\u2019s approval before exporting magnets that contain even trace amounts of China-origin rare earths or that were produced using Chinese mining, refining, or magnet-making technologies.<\/p>\n
The new restrictions, issued by China\u2019s Ministry of Commerce, mark the first Chinese version of the U.S. \u201cforeign direct product rule,\u201d which Washington has used to block semiconductor-related exports to China from third countries.<\/p>\n
These rules effectively give China greater leverage over the global rare earth supply chain.<\/p>\n
Beijing first introduced limits on rare earth exports in April in response to tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. That move pressured Washington to return to the negotiating table, as shortages of Chinese rare earths began to disrupt U.S. automotive supply chains.<\/p>\n
Since then, the mineral shortage has been a recurring topic in several rounds of trade talks between the two countries. The new Chinese export measures come just ahead of Xi and Trump\u2019s planned meeting in Seoul, South Korea, later this month.<\/p>\n
According to Financial Times, China controls about 70% of rare earth mining, 90% of separation and refining, and 93% of magnet production globally.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Commerce said the new measures aim to \u201csafeguard national security and interests\u201d and prevent the \u201cmisuse of rare earth materials in military and other sensitive industries.\u201d It added that some foreign companies had jeopardized China\u2019s security by transferring Chinese-origin rare earth materials and technologies for military use abroad.<\/p>\n
The new licensing system will cover foreign-made rare earth magnets and certain semiconductor materials that contain at least 0.1% of heavy rare earth elements of Chinese origin by value.<\/p>\n
The regulations will take effect on December 1, and most export licenses for military end-users will be denied. Exports to semiconductor manufacturers and related equipment producers will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.<\/p>\n
Following the announcement, shares of major Chinese state-owned rare earth producers surged: China Northern Rare Earth rose more than 7% in Shanghai, while Rising Nonferrous Metals Share climbed over 4%.<\/p>\n
China\u2019s expanded control over rare earths has prompted Washington to boost state support for U.S. rare earth miners and magnet producers in an effort to reduce dependence on Beijing. Meanwhile, the G7 group of advanced economies is exploring ways to establish a supply chain independent of China.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":150407,"menu_order":0,"template":"","newscat":[9],"newstag":[],"issues":[],"class_list":["post-150406","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","newscat-novosti"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/150406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"newscat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newscat?post=150406"},{"taxonomy":"newstag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newstag?post=150406"},{"taxonomy":"issues","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issues?post=150406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}