EU sounds alarm to China over rare earth export controls

The European Union has urged China to ease restrictions on rare earth materials – critical for everything from cars to washing machines – after Beijing’s export controls disrupted supplies and triggered production turmoil across industries in Europe and America.

The European Union has urged China to ease restrictions on rare earth materials – critical for everything from cars to washing machines – after Beijing’s export controls disrupted supplies and triggered production turmoil across industries in Europe and America. Maros Sefcovic, the European Union’s trade commissioner, said the issue was a “priority” in his Tuesday meeting with Chinese commerce minister Wang Wentao on the sidelines of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development conference in Paris. “I informed my Chinese counterpart about the alarming situation in the European car industry, but I would say industry as such because clearly rare earths and permanent magnets are absolutely essential for industrial production,” Sefcovic told reporters on Wednesday. At the height of its trade spat with America in April, China leveraged its global dominance in the rare earths supply chain and imposed new export controls on seven types of rare earth minerals and several magnets – needed for everything from everyday electronics and vehicles to big-ticket weapons such as F-35 fighter jets. China controls 90% of the global processing of rare earths. But despite a 90-day trade truce with the United States, Beijing has yet to loosen these controls, drawing ire from Washington. That has led to China and the US trading barbs in the past week, over which side violated the temporary trade agreement reached in Geneva. All the while, carmakers have warned that factory shutdowns are looming as they find it nearly impossible to import rare earth magnets from China. “If it comes to the permanent magnets which are used clearly for civilian production, because you need them from washing machines to cars to any home appliance we have most probably at home all of us, this is extremely disruptive for the industry,” Sefcovic said.