{"id":32822,"date":"2025-06-30T04:12:41","date_gmt":"2025-06-30T04:12:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/?p=32822"},"modified":"2025-06-30T04:12:41","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T04:12:41","slug":"chinas-tighter-export-controls-squeeze-wider-range-of-rare-earths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/?p=32822","title":{"rendered":"China\u2019s tighter export controls squeeze wider range of rare earths"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> \n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Stay informed with free updates<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__content-sign-up-topic-description o3-type-body-base\"><span>Simply sign up to the <!-- -->Chinese trade<!-- --> myFT Digest &#8212; delivered directly to your inbox.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe class=\"article__content-sign-up-iframe close\" scrolling=\"no\" id=\"signUpIframe\" data-prev-url=\"\/register\/in-article-sign-up?ft-content-uuid=13d18620-d3d8-417e-b7fb-40d97fc064bf&amp;concept-id=ddfaf6e2-5b32-4989-b36d-b53af9b681a1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p>China\u2019s export controls are spilling over into products beyond the rare earths and magnets officially identified by Beijing, threatening broader supply chain disruption and undermining US claims that a new trade deal had resolved delays to shipments.<\/p>\n<p>Beijing, which dominates global supply of critical minerals, began requiring licences for exports of seven rare earth metals and related magnet materials in April in retaliation for Donald Trump\u2019s sweeping tariffs on Chinese imports.<\/p>\n<p>On June 10, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/f5a904c2-1ba7-47b4-a506-b9db7e899704\" data-trackable=\"link\">US said it had agreed<\/a> with China that rare earth shipments should be expedited, reviving a 90-day trade truce on their tariff war reached the previous month in Geneva.<\/p>\n<p>But China\u2019s commerce ministry and customs officials have started to demand additional inspections and third-party chemical testing and analysis of products that are not included in the original control list, according to Chinese companies and western industry executives.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs long as it contains even a single sensitive word [such as magnet], customs won\u2019t release it \u2014 it will trigger an inspection, and once that starts, it can take one or two months,\u201d said a salesperson at a Chinese magnet exporter.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor example, titanium rods and zirconium tubes are also being held up,\u201d the person said. \u201cThe actual controlled item is titanium powder. While our rods and tubes are not on the control list, they still aren\u2019t being cleared.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A representative of a second Chinese company said it had been \u201cheavily affected\u201d and that logistics companies were \u201crefusing to handle magnets\u201d. The company serves customers across various sectors including magnetic separators, industrial filtration, apparel, food and electronic components.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven if the products don\u2019t contain controlled substances\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009they worry that, if customs inspect the shipment, it could affect other goods in the same container and cause delays for the whole shipment,\u201d the person said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>China\u2019s General Administration of Customs and Ministry of Commerce did not respond to questions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Beijing\u2019s export controls are a significant point of leverage over its trading partners. The country dominates the processing of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/rare-earths\" data-trackable=\"link\">rare earths<\/a> and the manufacturing of the magnets in which they are used. Rare earths and their related magnets are widely deployed in electronics, heavy machinery and defence applications such as in fighter jets.<\/p>\n<p>In response to US curbs on tech exports to China, Beijing has over the past two years expanded controls over other strategic materials crucial to chip manufacturing, including gallium, germanium, antimony, graphite and tungsten.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/0fce7177-a713-4c06-ba22-0ae429efe73f\" data-trackable=\"link\">Financial Times reported earlier this month<\/a> that the commerce ministry has been asking for production details and confidential lists of customers to secure rare earths and magnets, raising concerns about potential misuse of data and exposure of trade secrets.<\/p>\n<div class=\"n-content-layout\" data-component=\"flourish\" data-component-id=\"23717944\" data-component-type=\"flourish-in-article\">\n<figure class=\"n-content-picture n-content-layout__container\"><a href=\"#23717944\"><picture data-asset-type=\"flourish\" data-flourish-id=\"23717944\" data-flourish-type=\"visualisation\">\n<div id=\"23717944\" class=\"cp-message o-message o-message--inform o-message--notice\" data-o-component=\"o-message\">\n<div class=\"o-message__container\">\n<div class=\"o-message__content\">\n<p class=\"o-message__content-main\">Some content could not load. Check your internet connection or browser settings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/picture><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>According to several industry insiders, the commerce ministry\u2019s export control licence approval process has improved since it was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/81ba803e-9cce-4752-8432-4dde4e77c691\" data-trackable=\"link\">first implemented<\/a> in April. <\/p>\n<p>Over recent weeks, European companies, industry associations and EU officials have been providing the ministry with lists of the \u201cmost urgent applications\u201d. These have mostly been approved by the Chinese side, but European groups said that, under ideal circumstances, more companies and countries would be covered. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have seen an improvement of licence approvals recently, but in order to stabilise global supply chains, we need to switch from the current firefighting mode to a regular, stable and predictable approval process,\u201d said Jens Eskelund, president of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>According to a survey conducted among western companies in China in June, more than 60 per cent of respondents reported that their export applications had not been approved. <\/p>\n<aside aria-labelledby=\"aside-label\" class=\"n-content-recommended--single-story n-content-recommended--inset\" data-component=\"recommended\">\n<p class=\"n-content-recommended__title o3-type-body-highlight\">Recommended<\/p>\n<div class=\"o-teaser o-teaser--article o-teaser--small o-teaser--stacked o-teaser--has-image js-teaser\" data-id=\"aa03e3b0-606d-4106-97dc-bac8ad679131\">\n<div class=\"o-teaser__image-container js-teaser-image-container\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/aa03e3b0-606d-4106-97dc-bac8ad679131\" data-trackable=\"image-link\" data-trackable-context-story-link=\"image-link\" tabindex=\"-1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"o-teaser__image-placeholder\" style=\"aspect-ratio:2493\/1402\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"o-teaser__image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2F__origami%2Fservice%2Fimage%2Fv2%2Fimages%2Fraw%2Fhttps%253A%252F%252Fd1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net%252Fproduction%252Fede860a2-4faa-4a82-b6de-4e9752fab33b.jpg%3Fsource%3Dnext-article%26fit%3Dscale-down%26quality%3Dhighest%26width%3D700%26dpr%3D1?source=next&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;dpr=2&amp;width=240\" alt=\"Montage of rare earths, an aeroplane, windmills and mechanical equipment\"\/><\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>One senior European executive in China who requested anonymity said some companies that had obtained an export licence for rare earths and related magnets had subsequently encountered additional delays, due to the customs authorities\u2019 new chemical testing and analysis requirements.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is like a black box: you have no idea who is doing the analysis, how long it takes, where we are in the process. This is very frustrating,\u201d the person said.<\/p>\n<p>Some exporters with licences were choosing to airfreight the approved magnets, rather than ship them. While more expensive, this is believed to lower the chances of being hit with additional testing and analysis requirements.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur products are heavy but small, so we can still use express shipping \u2014 though that also carries some risk, inspections there are less strict,\u201d another Chinese magnet salesperson said. <\/p>\n<p><em>Additional reporting by Nian Liu in Beijing<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/13d18620-d3d8-417e-b7fb-40d97fc064bf\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Chinese trade myFT Digest &#8212; delivered directly to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":32823,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","cs-entry","cs-video-wrap"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}