Reuters: China widens export controls to cover rare earths and advanced technologies

China has spent its trade truce with the United States building a wider export-control system around rare earths, supply chains and advanced technology. (reuters.com) Rare earths are a group of 17 metals used in electric-vehicle motors, wind turbines, fighter jets and some chipmaking equipment. China processes about 90% of the world’s rare earths and magnets, giving Beijing unusual leverage over downstream manufacturers. (csis.org) (europarl.europa.eu) On April 4, 2025, China’s Ministry of Commerce and General Administration of Customs imposed export controls on seven medium and heavy rare earth categories, including samarium, gadolinium and terbium products. Exporters were told to apply for licenses under China’s Export Control Law and dual-use rules. (english.mofcom.gov.cn) Reuters reported that Beijing widened those controls again in October 2025, adding five more rare earth elements, more refining technology and new scrutiny for semiconductor users. The report said foreign producers using Chinese materials could also be pulled into the licensing regime. (marketscreener.com) The European Parliament’s research service said the second wave reached beyond physical shipments into know-how, equipment and some foreign-made goods containing Chinese-origin rare earths. It said firms could need approval even when Chinese content made up as little as 0.1% of a product’s value. (europarl.europa.eu) That turns export controls into something broader than a customs check. A magnet made outside China can still be caught if it uses Chinese feedstock, Chinese processing technology or equipment covered by the rules. (europarl.europa.eu) (reuters.com) The practical effect is slower approvals, more end-user checks and more pressure on industries that cannot easily substitute these materials. European Union researchers said the bloc gets all of its heavy rare earths from China, plus 98% of its rare-earth magnets. (europarl.europa.eu) Washington has cast the new rules as an attempt to control technology supply chains, while Beijing says the measures protect national security and meet non-proliferation obligations. Those are the same legal grounds China cited in its April 2025 announcement. (marketscreener.com) (english.mofcom.gov.cn) The truce with Washington did not unwind this system. Reuters said China used the pause in tariff escalation to expand retaliatory tools that can be activated through licensing, entity designations and supply-chain rules ahead of another leaders’ meeting. (reuters.com) (whitehouse.gov) For manufacturers, the issue is no longer only whether China bans a shipment outright. It is whether Beijing can decide, license by license, which rare earths, magnets and technologies move through the global system. (reuters.com)