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China’s exports of rare earths have fallen to the lowest level since 2020, as the communist regime tightened the controls over the strategic metals amid trade tensions with the United States.
The volume of rare earth permanent magnets shipped from China plunged by approximately 53 percent from a month earlier in May, according to The Epoch Times’ calculation of data released by China’s General Administration of Customs on June 20.
The 1,238 metric tons of rare earth magnets exported last month marked the lowest level since February 2020, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shipments to the United States declined sharply. China’s customs data show that roughly 46 metric tons of rare earth were exported to the United States in May, down by 81 percent from a month earlier.
Official data show that exports to the United States had already halved in February. Despite a slight recovery in March, China recorded a 58 percent month-over-month decline in April.
China
dominates the global supply chain of rare earth elements, a group of 17 metals used in everything from smartphones and medical imaging techniques to military equipment. According to a 2023
report by Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, China accounted for 70 percent of mining and 90 percent of processing capability.
The regime’s latest export
curbs on seven medium-to-heavy rare earth materials took effect on April 4. Under the regulations, Chinese traders must report their overseas clients’ intended uses and other information to apply for special export licenses.
The restrictions were implemented just two months after China’s commerce ministry announced it would require licenses for shipping five essential metals—tungsten, tellurium, bismuth, indium, and molybdenum—vital for defense and various industries.
While the bans were widely viewed as a retaliation against Washington’s tariff hike on Chinese products earlier this year, they applied to all of Beijing’s trading partners, disrupting global supply chains critical to semiconductor manufacturers, carmakers, and aerospace contractors. For example, some
European automakers reported earlier this month that they were temporarily forced to halt production lines.
Despite the 90-day trade truce with the United States, Beijing’s restrictions on rare earth elements were not lifted. Instead, the regime later
ordered a strengthening of control over the entire supply chain of strategic minerals.
On June 5, U.S. President Donald Trump had a phone call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, an exchange described by the U.S. president as “
very good.” Trump said after the exchange that the issues concerning the supply of the critical rare earth minerals have been resolved.
JL MAG Rare-Earth, a leading Chinese rare earth trader,
said on June 10 that the company had obtained export licenses for shipments to the United States and several other regions. The company didn’t specify the date the licenses were issued.
On June 11, Trump
confirmed that China would supply rare earth as part of the new trade framework pact reached during the bilateral negotiations in London.
“Full magnets, and any necessary rare earths, will be supplied, up front, by China,” the president wrote in all caps in a Truth Social
post.
The deal still awaits approval from Trump and Xi.
Chinese commerce officials have repeatedly insisted that Beijing’s export curbs are due to the rare earth magnets’ “dual use” nature that can be used for both civilian and military applications.
On June 19, China’s Ministry of Commerce said it approved “a certain number” of applications for rare earth export licenses.
The Chinese regime’s throttling of rare earth exports has alarmed its major trading partners.
At the G7 summit in Canada this month, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Beijing is “using this quasi-monopoly not only as a bargaining chip, but also weaponizing it to undermine competitors in key industries.”
“We all witnessed the cost and consequences of China’s coercion through export restrictions,” she
said at a G7 working lunch on June 15.
“Even if there are signals that China may loosen its restrictions, the threat remains.”
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Udumbara
