China suspends the export of Rare Earths
China has suspended exports of a wide range of essential minerals and magnets, threatening to disrupt supplies of key components to automakers, aerospace manufacturers, semiconductor companies and military contractors around the world. The news is reported by the NYT .
Shipments of magnets, essential for assembling everything from cars to drones to robots to missiles, have been halted at many Chinese ports as the Chinese government works out a new regulatory system. Once in place, the new system could permanently prevent supplies from reaching certain companies, including American military contractors.
The official crackdown is part of China's retaliation for President Trump's sharp increase in tariffs, which began on April 2.
On April 4, the Chinese government imposed export restrictions on six rare earth heavy metals, which are refined entirely in China, as well as rare earth magnets, 90% of which are produced in China. Metals and special magnets made from them can now be shipped out of China only with special export licenses.
But China has only just begun to set up a licensing system. That has caused consternation among industry executives, who fear the process could drag on and that current supplies of minerals and products outside China could run out.
If factories in Detroit and elsewhere run out of powerful rare-earth magnets, it could prevent them from assembling cars and other products with electric motors that require these magnets. Companies vary greatly in the size of emergency supplies for such eventualities, so it is difficult to predict the timing of production disruptions.
The so-called rare earth heavy metals, which have been subject to export suspension, are used in permanent magnets essential for many types of electric motors. These motors are key components of electric cars, drones, robots, missiles and space vehicles. Even gasoline-powered cars use electric motors with rare-earth magnets for critical tasks such as steering.
Metals are also used in chemicals to make jet engines, lasers, car headlights and some spark plugs. And these rare metals are vital ingredients in capacitors, which are electrical components of the computer chips that power AI servers and smartphones.
Rare earths on the table of elements
Michael Silver, president and CEO of American Elements, a Los Angeles-based chemicals supplier, said his company has been told it will take 45 days before export licenses can be issued and exports of rare earth metals and magnets can resume. Silver said his company increased inventories last winter in anticipation of a trade war between the United States and China, and may fulfill existing contracts while waiting for licenses.
Daniel Pickard, chairman of the Advisory Committee on Critical Minerals for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the Department of Commerce, expressed concern about the availability of rare earths.
"Could export controls or bans have serious consequences in the United States? Yes," he said. Pickard, international trade and national security practice leader at law firm Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, said a quick resolution of the rare earths issue is needed because a prolonged disruption to exports could damage China's reputation as a reliable supplier.
Lynas Rare Earths' Kalgoorie Plant
Rare earths are there: we need to exploit them
According to the US Geological Survey (USGS) , China holds the world's largest estimated reserves of rare earth oxides (REOs), with approximately 44 million tonnes, and also dominates global production. Followed by Vietnam (22 million tonnes), Brazil (21 million tonnes) and Russia (21 million tonnes). Other countries with significant reserves include India (6.9 million tonnes), Australia (4.2 million tonnes) and the United States (2.3 million tonnes).
Significant deposits are also found in Greenland (Danish territory), Canada , South Africa and Myanmar . Recently, in 2023, a significant deposit was announced in Sweden , considered the largest known in Europe to date.
In reality, rare earths are quite abundant, simply until yesterday they were not searched for and refined. China has a monopoly simply because it has created it over time, especially at the refining level. We have been talking about the need to reduce this excessive burden for years, but now, faced with US strategic needs, perhaps we will move from words to deeds.
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The article China suspends the export of Rare Earths comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/la-cina-sospende-lesportazione-di-terre-rare/ on Tue, 15 Apr 2025 07:00:21 +0000.