China's export controls see April rare earth shipments tumble on month
BEIJING - China's exports of rare earths in April fell 15.6% from the month before after the country, which dominates global supply, announced controls on shipments of some of the critical minerals.
China's exports of the group of 17 minerals stood at 4,785 metric tons last month, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Friday.
That compared to 4,566 tons in the same month in 2024, and 5,666 tons in March.
Beijing announced on April 4 it was placing seven categories of medium and heavy rare earths - samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium-related items- on its export restriction list with immediate effect.
Shipments of the seven rare earths placed on the export control list have ground to halt, Reuters reported last month.
In the first four months of 2025, exports rose 5.1% compared to the year before to 18,962 tons, the customs data showed.
China's rare earths imports last month slid nearly 4% on the year to 12,623 tons.
Total imports in the first four months of this year dropped 23.6% from the year before to 37,302 tons, the customs data showed.
(Reporting by Amy Lv and Lewis Jackson; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
3 hours ago
- The National
A fragile truce reached during US-China trade talks
After 20 hours of intense negotiations in London – and a late-night delivery from a well-known restaurant – the US and China have emerged with a framework trade agreement that offers a pause in escalating tensions but falls short of a full breakthrough. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick described the outcome with cautious optimism. 'We finally have meat on the bone,' he told reporters in London. 'This is progress – not just atmospherics – and it reflects meaningful give on both sides.' Three pillars of the London framework Tariffs stopped until August 10: Both nations have agreed to a temporary halt in tariff escalation to allow space for continued dialogue. Concessions from China have been agreed on to ease export controls on rare earth elements and industrial magnets, critical for the US defence and automotive sectors. This move is seen as a strategic opening, particularly given China's grip on global rare earth supplies. US concessions include a rollback on selected semiconductor restrictions, a signal that Washington is open to de-escalation in the sensitive tech space. Implementation or illusion? The agreement is now in the so-called 'implementation phase', awaiting ratification by Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump. But the reaction from financial markets is one of cautious recalibration. 'Markets have seen the movie of a US-China deal falling apart, so too have markets seen the patch-up movie many times,' said veteran analyst Terry Haines at Pangaea Policy. Equities, bonds and foreign exchange markets registered only marginal moves. The hesitation is rooted in scepticism, given the long history of similar efforts unravelling. 'China's not interested in geopolitical moderation,' Mr Haines said. 'Today's geopolitical situation argues against China wanting to do any broad deals – especially with China's client states, Russia and Iran, both becoming more belligerent and difficult over the past week.' Cynicism or realism? The broader concern among analysts is that China may be engaging in what's been called 'extend and pretend' – offering incremental concessions to avoid conflict while avoiding deeper structural change. What happens next? Markets and risk takers have a simplistic take on 'fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me'. The framework agreed to in London represents a moment of stability in a volatile relationship, but few are mistaking it for a turning point. Markets, policymakers and analysts alike are watching closely – not for more words, but for tangible implementation and long-term change.
Khaleej Times
5 hours ago
- Khaleej Times
US-China trade deal is 'done', Trump says as tariff truce on track
A U.S.-China trade deal is "done," U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday, hours after negotiators from Washington and Beijing agreed on a framework to get a fragile trade truce back on track and remove Chinese export restrictions on rare earth minerals and other critical industrial components. Trump took to his social media platform to offer some of the first details to emerge from two days of marathon talks held in London that had, in the words of U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, put "meat on the bones" of an agreement reached last month in Geneva to ease bilateral retaliatory tariffs that had reached crushing triple-digit levels. "Our deal with China is done, subject to final approval with President Xi and me," Trump said on the Truth Social platform. "Full magnets, and any necessary rare earths, will be supplied, up front, by China. Likewise, we will provide to China what was agreed to, including Chinese students using our colleges and universities (which has always been good with me!). We are getting a total of 55% tariffs, China is getting 10%." A White House official said the 55% represents the sum of a baseline 10% "reciprocal" tariff Trump has imposed on goods imported from nearly all U.S. trading partners; 20% on all Chinese imports because of punitive measures Trump has imposed on China, Mexico and Canada associated with his accusation the three facilitate the flow of the opioid fentanyl into the U.S.; and finally pre-existing 25% levies on imports from China that were put in place during Trump's first term in the White House. The U.S. president later posted: "President XI and I are going to work closely together to open up China to American Trade. This would be a great WIN for both countries!!!" Other specifics for how the deal would be implemented remained unclear. China's commerce ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment and more information. Framework for a deal Officials from the two superpowers had gathered at a rushed meeting in London starting on Monday following a call last week between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping that broke a standoff that had developed just weeks after a preliminary deal reached in Geneva that had defused their trade war. The Geneva deal had faltered over China's continued curbs on critical minerals exports, prompting the Trump administration to respond with export controls preventing shipments of semiconductor design software, aircraft and other goods to China. Lutnick said the agreement reached in London would remove restrictions on Chinese exports of rare earth minerals and magnets and some of the recent U.S. export restrictions "in a balanced way," but did not provide details after the talks concluded around midnight London time (7 p.m. EDT). "We have reached a framework to implement the Geneva consensus and the call between the two presidents," Lutnick said, adding that both sides will now return to present the framework to their respective presidents for approvals. "And if that is approved, we will then implement the framework," he said. In a separate briefing, China's Vice Commerce Minister Li Chenggang also said a trade framework had been reached in principle that would be taken back to U.S. and Chinese leaders. Trump's shifting tariff policies have roiled global markets, sparked congestion and confusion in major ports, and cost companies tens of billions of dollars in lost sales and higher costs. The World Bank on Tuesday slashed its global growth forecast for 2025 by four-tenths of a percentage point to 2.3%, saying higher tariffs and heightened uncertainty posed a "significant headwind" for nearly all economies. The U.S.-China deal may keep the Geneva agreement from unravelling over duelling export controls, but does little to resolve deep differences over Trump's unilateral tariffs and longstanding U.S. complaints about China's state-led, export-driven economic model. The two sides left Geneva with fundamentally different views of the terms of that agreement and needed to be more specific on required actions, said Josh Lipsky, senior director of the Atlantic Council's GeoEconomics Center in Washington. "They are back to square one, but that's much better than square zero," Lipsky added. It was not immediately clear from Trump's comments where things stood regarding the timeline for a more comprehensive deal that had been reached last month in Geneva. There, the two sides set August 10 as the deadline to negotiate a more comprehensive agreement to ease trade tensions, or tariff rates would snap back from about 30% to 145% on the U.S. side and from 10% to 125% on the Chinese side.
Al Etihad
5 hours ago
- Al Etihad
Wall Street climbs on easing US-China tensions, cool US inflation
11 June 2025 20:14 LONDON (AFP)Wall Street stocks mostly rose Wednesday as investors welcomed cooler US inflation data and a China-US agreement aimed at lowering trade two days of talks between US and Chinese negotiators in London, US President Donald Trump said: "Our deal with China is done".The United States and China slashed tit-for-tat tariffs after negotiations in Geneva last month, but tensions flared up again after Trump later accused Beijing of violating the pact reached in positive London talks provided some relief to markets."Constructive talks between the US and China have put markets on a firmer footing, as investors hope that the worst of the tariff turbulence may have passed," said Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Street's three main indices were higher in late morning trading in New edged higher, supported by the government laying out its spending plans. But Paris and Frankfurt couldn't hold on to early gains and closed modestly stock markets also won a lift on the China-US progress, with Hong Kong among the best well as tariffs, a key issue in the discussions was China's export of rare earths used in smartphones and electric vehicles, while Beijing was keen to see an easing of restrictions on its access to tech said on his Truth Social platform that China would supply rare earth minerals and magnets -- vital elements for US United States, he added, would allow Chinese students to remain in US has infuriated Beijing by vowing to revoke the visas of Chinese students -- a major source of revenue for US said the trade talks made new progress, and vice premier He Lifeng stressed the need for Beijing and Washington to strengthen President Xi Jinping and Trump must approve the framework talks came as World Bank downgraded its 2025 forecast for global economic growth to 2.3 percent -- from the 2.7 percent predicted in January -- citing trade tensions and policy also said the US economy would expand 1.4 percent this year, half of its 2024 data showed little impact of Trump's tariffs on US consumer prices in April and May, the consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.1 percent. Analysts had expected it to continue at the 0.2 rate it rose in also rose less than expected in the so-called core reading that excludes volatile food and energy prices."Risk appetite remained firm after the release of weaker-than-expected US inflation data, which boosted speculation that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates sooner than expected - possibly in September instead of October -- and potentially twice before the year is out," said City Index and analyst Fawad the release of the data Trump issued a fresh call for the Fed to lower interest have worried that a tariff-driven surge in inflation could hinder the Federal Reserve from lowering interest rates to counter the slowdown in growth. Investors now see a better than even chance that the Fed, which has not reduced rates since December, will cut rates in September.
