China Responds to US tariffs with Export Controls on Critical Rare Earth Minerals

China Responds to US tariffs with Export Controls on Critical Rare Earth Minerals

China recently imposed export restrictions on seven types of rare earth elements as part of its response to President Donald Trump’s new tariffs. These measures mark an escalation in trade tensions between the two nations. They are framed by Beijing as necessary for national security and strategic interests, which Legal Insurrection has followed closely.

The curbs apply to medium and heavy rare earth elements, including samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium, and yttrium. These restrictions cover raw materials, alloys, oxides, compounds, and finished products, such as permanent magnets and target materials used in high-tech manufacturing.

The export curbs include not only mined minerals but permanent magnets and other finished products that will be difficult to replace, analysts said.

The move, which affects exports to all countries, not just the U.S., is the latest demonstration of China’s ability to weaponize its dominance over the mining and processing of the critical minerals.

Seven categories of medium and heavy rare earths, including samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium-related items, will be placed on an export control list as of April 4, according to a Ministry of Commerce release.

Lockheed Martin Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab and Apple are among the U.S. companies that use Chinese rare earths in their supply chains.
“China made that list strategically,” said Mel Sanderson, a director at American Rare Earths (ARR.AX), which is building a Wyoming rare earths mine it hopes to open by 2029, and co-chair of the Critical Minerals Institute trade group. “They picked the things that are crucial for the U.S. economy.”

However, before engaging in tariff-based-panic, it’s good to note that Trump recently invoked the Defense Production Act (DPA) to accelerate domestic production of critical minerals. The initiative aims to reduce American reliance on foreign imports, particularly from China, and gives Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Energy, and Secretary of Agriculture great power over what can be mined and where.

Before issuing the tariffs, Trump foresaw the need to counter China’s mineral mining offensive.

This development can be paired with even more good news. Recent developments in California’s rare earth mining sector have begun focusing on the Mountain Pass Mine, located near the Nevada border. This mine is the only active large-scale rare earth element mine in the United States and plays a pivotal role in domestic rare earth production.

Historically discovered in 1949, the Mountain Pass deposit revealed bastnaesite, an ore rich in rare earth elements such as neodymium, europium, and dysprosium, critical for modern technologies and military equipment. Now the site has begun prefining these minerals, which was a step that we relied heavily on China to complete.

However, to address the dependency on foreign processing, MP Materials is investing heavily in building a fully domestic rare earth supply chain. At its Mountain Pass mine in California, the company is enhancing its processing and separation capabilities to refine rare earth elements on-site.

Meanwhile, at its new Independence facility in Fort Worth, Texas, MP Materials has begun producing neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) metal and trialing sintered neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets. This facility marks the first domestic production of these critical materials in decades, with the capability to produce 1,000 metric tons of magnets annually, amounting to the production of roughly half a million EV motors.

“This is our ultimate goal,” says Matt Sloustcher, EVP of Corporate Affairs for MP Materials. “To handle the entire separation and refining process on-site—but that ramp-up takes time.”

The U.S. Department of Defense recognized the strategic importance of expanding the capability and awarded MP Materials a $35 million contract to rev up processing capabilities.

Also in California is the Salton Sea region in Southern California, home to one of the largest lithium reserves in the world. This resource holds immense potential for transforming the U.S. lithium supply chain and contributing to the global energy transition.

The Salton Sea’s geothermal brine reservoir contains an estimated 18 million metric tons of lithium, enough to support the production of over 375 million electric vehicle (EV) batteries. The US Department of Energy estimates that this resource could meet all domestic lithium needs and potentially provide a surplus for export. Last year, a lithium extraction plant was started there.

As a reminder, last year, it was discovered that Wyoming was home to 2 billion metric tons of rare earth minerals.

Between Trump’s executive order and all our own mineral deposits, we are posed for the American Gold Rush of the New Millennium, this time involving rare earth minerals.

And in Wyoming, mines that were about to be defunct due to falling coal prices are now worth tens of billions because of rare earth.

It's a new American gold rush for the minerals we thought China would dominate. pic.twitter.com/cv8iKjViNh

— Maxwell Meyer (@mualphaxi) February 24, 2024

Turns out my stocks in the Wyoming mine (a Valentine’s Day present from my husband) may be the only ones worth something!

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