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Tag: Metals and mining

  • Indonesia tightens control on nickel as the US and China scramble for minerals

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    HANOI, Vietnam — Indonesia is tightening state control over the world’s largest nickel supply after years of betting the metal would anchor a homegrown electric-vehicle industry, and just as global demand begins shifting away from heavy reliance on nickel.

    The move could still ripple through global EV supply chains as the United States and China compete for critical minerals. Indonesia sits at the center of the nickel market: its share of global supply jumped to about 60% in 2024 from 31.5% in 2020, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence, after former President Joko Widodo banned raw ore exports, drawing a surge of Chinese-backed investment into refining.

    Jakarta hoped that control over nickel would underpin a fully domestic EV industry, from mining and batteries to finished cars. Experts say that promise was used to justify forest clearing and mining expansion in the name of the energy transition, even as climate risks deepened.

    In 2025, Indonesia cracked down on what it called illegal exploitation of natural resources, saying many mining and plantation licenses were tainted by bribery or never properly approved. Authorities say they have seized more than 4 million hectares (9.8 million acres) of mines, palm oil plantations and processing sites, levied $1.7 billion in fines, and could seize another 4.5 million hectares this year.

    But analysts warn the crackdown is coming just as nickel’s payoff is starting to fade, with many Chinese EVs shifting to battery chemistries that use far less of the metal, relying instead on iron-based designs.

    “The forests have been exploited to the brim,” said Putra Adhiguna of the Jakarta-based Energy Shift Institute. “But you never got the electric-vehicle value chain.”

    China plays the leading role in Indonesia’s nickel sector, using the metal to underpin its stainless steel and clean-energy industries.

    The world’s largest nickel reserves are concentrated on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, which accounts for more than half of global nickel mine production, according to the U.S.-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis or IEEFA.

    China has sourced nickel from Indonesia for decades, but the relationship deepened after Jakarta banned raw ore exports in 2020, drawing a surge of Chinese investment into smelters.

    Nickel shipments to China jumped, with imports of nickel matte — a semiprocessed material used in battery chemicals and alloys — rising nearly 28-fold between 2020 and 2023, more than 90% of it from Indonesia, according to trade data. Over the same period, North and South America’s combined share of global nickel output fell from 16% to 7%, while Europe’s share dropped from 35% to 10%, according to the International Nickel Study Group, a Lisbon-based intergovernmental organization.

    Meanwhile, mining drove the loss of about 370,000 hectares (roughly 914,000 acres) of Indonesian forests between 2001 and 2020 — more than in any other country — according to an analysis by the World Resources Institute. More than a third of that loss was old-growth rainforests which hold vast carbon stocks and are crucial for limiting climate change.

    The heavy use of coal to run Indonesia’s nickel smelters has also slowed the country’s energy transition, adding new fossil-fuel demand even as it tries to cut emissions. A 2024 analysis by the IEEFA found that major nickel producers emitted about 15 million metric tons (16.5 million U.S. tons) of greenhouse gases in 2023, largely because of coal reliance.

    In one of the most public nickel-related seizures last year, Indonesian soldiers accompanied by a local television crew, took control of part of the world’s largest nickel mine.

    Mostly owned by Chinese metals giant Tsingshan Holding Group, the mine has caused deforestation, air and water pollution and increased coal-fired emissions, while displacing communities, harming livelihoods and exposing residents to health risks, according to a 2024 report by the nonprofit group Climate Rights International.

    The move wasn’t aimed at environmental protection or restoring forestry safeguards, said Bhima Yudhistira, with the Jakarta-based Center of Economic and Law Studies or CELIOS.

    “There is no guarantee things will get better,” he said. They could get “even worse.”

    Indonesia’s effort to turn its nickel reserves into the backbone of a domestic EV industry drew early interest from investors in South Korea and China but has fallen short of expectations.

    In July 2024, South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution opened Indonesia’s first EV battery-cell plant, with annual capacity to supply more than 150,000 electric vehicles. But in April 2025, LG Energy Solution withdrew from a larger $8.4 billion battery investment, citing market and investment conditions.

    An EV plant is still being built by Chinese automaker BYD. China’s CATL, the world’s largest EV battery maker is constructing a battery factory with Indonesian state firms.

    Indonesia’s EV market, is growing quickly but remains small.

    The country sold more than 43,000 electric vehicles in 2024, accounting for about 5% of total car sales, according to the Indonesian Business Council. Public charging infrastructure is limited, with around 1,500 stations nationwide in 2024.

    Even if Indonesia produced 1 million EVs a year — equal to total annual auto sales — and favored nickel-rich batteries, that would still consume less than 1% of its national nickel output, according to the Energy Shift Institute.

    EV makers are shifting to lithium iron phosphate, or LFP, batteries, reducing the need for nickel and cobalt. LFP batteries are cheaper, more stable and longer lasting. They’re used in nearly half of all EVs, the International Energy Agency found.

    Analysts say Indonesia’s nationalization drive could loosen Beijing’s grip on parts of the supply chain, potentially giving Jakarta more leverage to court U.S. buyers and investors.

    One potential concession by Indonesia in long drawn-out trade negotiations with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, expected to wrap up soon, would be to lift the ban on raw nickel exports to the U.S.

    Indonesia already has invited the U.S. to invest in its critical minerals sector as part of ongoing tariff negotiations between the two countries, though it’s caught in a tricky position.

    “How does Indonesia straddle between the two superpowers who both want to gain control of the national resource that Indonesia has?” said Li Shuo, director of the Asia Society Policy Institute’s China Climate Hub.

    Other Southeast Asian countries similarly “sandwiched” between the U.S. and China are watching Indonesia closely, Li said.

    “Make no mistake, it’s going to be very difficult,” he said.

    Indonesia’s land seizures risks further destabilizing its nickel industry, added Yudhistira with CELIOS. Foreign investors monitoring the situation are likely to hesitate before committing new capital to Indonesia-based mining and processing projects, he said.

    “This is making the future of nickel, both mining and downstream processing, unknown,” Yudhistira said. “Uncertainty is very costly for investors.”

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    Delgado reported from Bangkok, Thailand. Associated Press writer Edna Tarigan in Jakarta contributed to this report.

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    The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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  • Trump administration presses efforts to ensure supply of critical minerals outside of China

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    WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is expected to unveil its grandest plan yet to rebuild supply chains of critical minerals needed for everything from jet engines to smartphones, likely through purchase agreements with partners on top of creating a $12 billion U.S. strategic reserve to help counter China’s dominance.

    Vice President JD Vance is set to deliver a keynote address Wednesday at a meeting that Secretary of State Marco Rubio is hosting with officials from several dozen European, Asian and African nations. The U.S. is expected to sign deals on supply chain logistics, though details have not yet been revealed. Rubio met Tuesday with foreign ministers from South Korea and India to discuss critical minerals mining and processing.

    The meeting and expected agreements will come just two days after President Donald Trump announced “Project Vault,” or a stockpile of critical minerals to be funded with a $10 billion loan from the U.S. Export and Import Bank and nearly $1.67 billion in private capital.

    The Trump administration is making such bold moves after China, which controls 70% of the world’s rare earths mining and 90% of the processing, choked off the flow of the elements in response to Trump’s tariff war. The two superpowers are in a one-year truce after Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in October and agreed to pull back on high tariffs and stepped up rare earth restrictions.

    But China’s limits remain tighter than they were before Trump took office.

    “We don’t want to ever go through what we went through a year ago,” Trump said on Monday when announcing Project Vault.

    Other countries might join with the Trump administration in buying up critical minerals and taking other steps to spur industry development because the trade war revealed how vulnerable Western counties are to China, said Pini Althaus, who founded Oklahoma rare earth miner USA Rare Earth in 2019.

    “They’re looking at setting up sort of a buyers’ club, if you will,” said Althaus, who now is working to develop new mines in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan as CEO of Cove Capital. “The key producers and key consumers of critical minerals will sort of get together and work on pricing structures, floor pricing and other things.”

    The government last week also made its fourth direct investment in an American critical minerals producer when it extended $1.6 billion to USA Rare Earth in exchange for stock and a repayment agreement.

    Seeking government funding these days is like meeting with private equity investors because officials are scrutinizing companies to ensure anyone they invest in can deliver, Althaus said. And the government is demanding terms designed to generate a return for taxpayers as loans are repaid and stock prices increase, he said.

    Meanwhile, the U.S. Export-Import Bank’s board this week approved the $10 billion loan — the largest in its history — to help finance the setup of the U.S. Strategic Critical Minerals Reserve. It is tasked with ensuring access to critical minerals and related products for manufacturers, including battery maker Clarios, energy equipment manufacturer GE Vernova, digital storage company Western Digital and aerospace giant Boeing, according to the policy bank.

    Bank President and Chairman John Jovanovic told CNBC that the project creates a public-private partnership formula that “is uniquely suited and puts America’s best foot forward.”

    “What it does is it creates a scenario where there are no free riders. Everybody pitches in to solve this huge problem,” he said.

    Manufacturers, which benefit the most from the reserve, are making a long-term financial commitment, Jovanovic said, while the government loan spurs private investments.

    The stockpile strategy may help spark a “more organic” pricing model that excludes China, which has used its dominance to flood the market with lower-priced products to squeeze out competitors, said Wade Senti, president of the U.S. permanent magnet company AML.

    The Trump administration also has injected public money directly into the sector. The Pentagon has shelled out nearly $5 billion over the past year to help ensure its access to the materials after the trade war laid bare just how beholden the U.S. is to China.

    A bipartisan group of lawmakers last month proposed creating a new agency with $2.5 billion to spur production of rare earths and the other critical minerals. The lawmakers applauded the steps by the Trump administration.

    “It’s a clear sign that there is bipartisan support for securing a robust domestic supply of critical minerals that both reduces our reliance on China and stabilizes the market,” Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Todd Young, R-Ind., said in a joint statement Tuesday.

    Building up a stockpile will help American companies weather future rare earth supply disruptions, but that will likely be a long-term effort because the materials are still scarce right now with China’s restrictions, said David Abraham, a rare earths expert who has followed the industry for decades and wrote the book “The Elements of Power.”

    The Trump administration has focused on reinvigorating critical minerals production, but Abraham said it’s also important to encourage development of manufacturing that will use them. He noted that Trump’s decisions to cut incentives for electric vehicles and wind turbines have undercut demand for these elements in America.

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  • Trump administration to create a strategic reserve for rare earths elements

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    WASHINGTON — The Trump administration plans to deploy nearly $12 billion to create a strategic reserve of rare earth elements, a stockpile that could counter China’s ability to use its dominance of these hard to process metals as leverage in trade talks.

    The White House confirmed on Monday the start of “Project Vault,” which would initially be funded by a $10 billion loan from the US Export-Import Bank and nearly $1.67 billion in private capital. The minerals kept in the reserve would help to shield the manufacturers of autos, electronics and other goods from any supply chain disruptions.

    During trade talks last year spurred by President Donald Trump’s tariffs, the Chinese government restricted the exporting of rare earths that are needed for jet engines, radar systems, electric vehicles, laptops and phones.

    China represents about 70% of the world’s rare earths mining and 90% of global rare earths processing. That gave it a chokehold on the sector that has caused the U.S. to nurture alternative sources of the elements, creating a stockpile similar to the national reserve for petroleum.

    The loan would be for a period of 15 years. The U.S. government has previously taken stakes in the rare earths miner MP Materials, as well as providing financial backing to the companies Vulcan Elements and USA Rare Earth.

    Bloomberg News was the first to report the creation of the rare earths strategic reserve.

    Trump is scheduled on Monday to meet with General Motors CEO Mary Barra and mining industry billionaire Robert Friedland.

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  • Japan retrieves rare earth-rich mud from seabed to lower reliance on China

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    TOKYO — Japan said Monday it has successfully drilled and retrieved deep-sea sediment containing rare earth minerals from the seabed near a remote island, as the country seeks to reduce its reliance on China.

    The deep-sea drilling vessel Chikyu’s successful gathered the sediment at a depth of nearly 6,000 kilometers near the island of Minamitorishima, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in a statement on X.

    The test retrieval of the rare earths from that depth is a world first, she added.

    “It is a first step toward industrialization of domestically produced rare earth in Japan,” Takaichi said. “We will make effort toward achieving resilient supply chains for rare earths and other critical minerals to avoid overdependence on a particular country.”

    China controls most of the global production of heavy rare earths, which are used for making powerful, heat-resistant magnets in industries such as defense and electric vehicles.

    Japan has faced growing tensions with China since Takaichi’s comment in November about a possible Japanese involvement in the case of Chinese military action against Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing claims as its own.

    China recently suspended exports to Japan of dual-use goods with potential military use, raising concern in Japan that rare earths may be included.

    While 17 elements are classified as rare earth, the U.S. government has identified 50 minerals overall that are labeled critical minerals, which also include a number of other minerals that are seen as essential to the economic and military strength of the nation.

    Japanese researchers discovered deposits rich with critical minerals around Minamitorishima in the 2010s, including those containing high-concentration rare earths that could last hundreds of years.

    Under the Strategic Innovation Promotion Program, Japan has been working on research, development and feasibility studies of rare earths deposits around the island.

    “The successful retrieval of the sediment containing rare earth elements is a meaningful achievement from the perspectives of economic security and comprehensive ocean development,” Japan’s Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Masanao Ozaki said Monday.

    He said that moving toward industrialization of rare earths mud mining will require demonstrating the full process from mining through separation and refining, as well as verifying its economic viability, based on the results of the ongoing tests.

    Details, including the amount of rare earth contained, still need to be analyzed, officials said.

    The Chikyu, which means Earth, departed last month for Minamitorishima, about 1,950 kilometers (1,210 miles) southeast of Tokyo, and arrived at the mining site on Jan. 17. The first batch of rare earth sediment was retrieved on Feb. 1, according to Japan’s Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, which is conducting the survey.

    Japan’s Self Defense Forces last year said Chinese naval vessels had been spotted near Minamitorishima.

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    AP video journalist Mayuko Ono in Tokyo contributed to this report.

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  • Liberia’s largest gold miner repeatedly spilled dangerous chemicals, records show

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    JIKANDOR, Liberia — For generations, families in Jikandor village fished and drank from the river that runs through Liberia ’s dense rain forest. Now toxic pollution is making them leave.

    They blame the largest gold miner in Liberia, Bea Mountain Mining Corporation. When dead fish float to the surface, they said, they know to tell authorities. But for years there has been little response.

    “If we don’t move, we will die,” village chief Mustapha Pabai said.

    Over several years, cyanide, arsenic and copper repeatedly leaked from Bea Mountain’s substandard facilities at levels that Liberia’s Environmental Protection Agency described as above legal limits. That’s according to EPA reports that were taken down from its site but later retrieved, as well as interviews with government officials, experts and former company employees.

    They provide the most comprehensive accounting yet of the spills. The EPA documents also show that Bea Mountain failed to alert regulators promptly after a spill in 2022 and previously blocked government inspectors as they tried to access the company’s laboratory and view results of testing.

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    This story was reported in collaboration with The Gecko Project, a nonprofit newsroom reporting on environmental issues. The reporting was supported by the Pulitzer Center. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters, and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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    The incidents point to failures in corporate responsibility that “can only be described as sustained negligence,” said Mandy Olsgard, a Canadian toxicologist who reviewed the EPA reports obtained in an investigation by The Associated Press and The Gecko Project.

    The reports also expose the Liberian government’s failures to hold the company to account. The government holds a 5% stake in the mining operations. Under Liberian law, the state can suspend or terminate licenses if a miner doesn’t fulfill its obligations. But weak enforcement is common, with the World Bank citing limited government capacity.

    In response to the investigation, the country’s recently dismissed minister of mines, Wilmot Paye, said he was “appalled by the harm being done to our country” and that the government was reviewing all concession agreements. The outspoken minister was dismissed in October.

    The gold that Bea Mountain mines is sold to Swiss refiner MKS PAMP, which is in the supply chains of some of the world’s largest companies including Nvidia and Apple. The investigation could not confirm what companies ultimately used the gold.

    MKS PAMP said it had commissioned an independent assessment of the New Liberty mine, the largest of five mines that Bea Mountain operates in Liberia, in early 2025, and said it found no basis to cut ties but identified areas for improvement related to health and safety. A follow-up visit is planned for 2026.

    MKS PAMP declined to share the assessment’s findings, citing confidentiality. It said it would end the relationship if Bea Mountain doesn’t improve.

    Between July 2021 and December 2022, the most recent period for which figures could be obtained, Bea Mountain exported more than $576 million worth of gold from Liberia. It contributed $37.8 million to government coffers during that time.

    Bea Mountain is controlled by Murathan Günal through Avesoro Resources. Murathan is the son of Turkish billionaire Mehmet Nazif Günal, whose business interests include the Mapa Group. Avesoro Resources and Mapa Group did not respond to requests for comment.

    Extracting gold from ore often involves cyanide, a chemical that at high levels can cause severe neurological damage and can be fatal if ingested, inhaled or absorbed through the skin. Cyanide must be treated before it enters and when it leaves a tailings dam, a storage site for mining waste.

    Other toxic substances, including arsenic, often found in gold mining also pose serious health risks if not properly controlled.

    The Günals took over Bea Mountain in 2016, acquiring it from Aureus Mining, a UK-listed gold producer, after years of warnings.

    In 2012, Canadian consultancy Golder Associates found a risk of contamination of local rivers from the New Liberty mine’s tailings dam and warned that seepage would breach Liberia’s drinking water standards. Two years later, the Digby Wells consultancy flagged cyanide and arsenic as key risks and suggested measures to prevent contamination.

    In 2015, a year before production began, a third consultancy, SRK, warned that arsenic could exceed World Health Organization standards for drinking water if not properly managed.

    Before production began, the International Finance Corporation, an arm of the World Bank, paid $19.2 million for an equity stake in Bea Mountain’s parent company to develop the New Liberty mine. But the U.S. representative on the IFC board abstained, warning in a 2014 letter that the project lacked basic safeguards and raising concerns about the tailings dam and gaps in the environmental assessment.

    It was not clear whether the IFC still holds a stake, and it didn’t respond to questions.

    Bea Mountain had pledged to follow strict water management rules and adopt the Cyanide Management Code, a global standard recommending pollution limits and requiring independent audits.

    The first spill documented by the EPA came in the first month of full production. In March 2016, just before the Günals’ purchase of Bea Mountain, cyanide and arsenic leaked from the New Liberty mine. Dead fish floated downstream. Residents reported skin rashes.

    The company paused operations but publicly downplayed the spill, saying “there has been no adverse impact on any human settlement.”

    It was the first of four EPA-confirmed cases at the mine in which Bea Mountain exceeded government pollution limits.

    In June 2020, EPA inspectors found Bea Mountain operating an unapproved wastewater system, and detected water contaminated with high levels of copper and iron. When inspectors tried to look at the company’s water testing data, Bea Mountain refused.

    “Physical access to the laboratory was also not approved,” the EPA said in one report.

    That month, Bea Mountain withdrew from the Cyanide Management Code without ever undergoing an audit, said Eric Schwamberger, a senior official at the International Cyanide Management Institute that oversees the code. He called such withdrawals uncommon.

    In May 2022, dead fish drifted down Marvoe Creek, which flows past Jikandor village and into the Mafa River that runs to the Atlantic. The EPA reported that a spill from Bea Mountain’s tailings dam had suffocated the fish “due to exposure to higher than permissible limits” of cyanide.

    The company knew about the pollution but failed to notify the community and the EPA “until downstream communities first started observing dead fish species,” the EPA report said. Companies are required to report such spills within 72 hours.

    More than 10 miles (16 kilometers) downstream in Wangekor village, residents said they hauled in dead fish before any warning reached them. They believed the bounty was “a gift from God,” said Philip Zodua, a representative of communities along the river.

    Six residents of villages downstream of the Bea Mountain mine asserted that they and their families fell ill after eating fish from the river in June 2022.

    One villager, Korto Tokpa, said she saw children collecting dead and dying fish. “They all were sick, vomiting, throwing up and going to the toilet the whole night” after consuming them, she said.

    However, no tests were carried out on the villagers. Independent environmental scientists and toxicology experts said there is insufficient evidence to identify pollution as the cause of the reported illnesses.

    “Without proper testing and transparent data, the true risks cannot be understood, and communities are left carrying all the uncertainty,” said Olsgard, the toxicologist. “It is the company’s responsibility to fill these gaps urgently.”

    When EPA inspectors arrived at the mine to test the water days after the spill, they found arsenic and cyanide levels well above legal limits.

    Schwamberger said the cyanide concentrations reported by the EPA, from water flowing out of the tailings dam, were more than 10 times the concentration “that would typically be considered to be lethal to fish.”

    In February 2023, another spill occurred. The EPA documented “a huge quantity of raw copper sulfate” leaking into the environment. Six of nine water samples breached legal limits for cyanide and copper.

    An EPA official involved in the May 2022 investigation, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter, said the mine’s tailings dam had been originally built too small, a design flaw that later caused it to overflow.

    While EPA inspectors repeatedly recommended fines after the spills, only one penalty was issued by the regulator, a $99,999 fine in 2018 that was later reduced to $25,000. It was not clear why.

    In a written response to questions from the AP and The Gecko Project, the EPA acknowledged three “pollution incidents” between 2016 and 2023 in which laboratory tests found “higher than permissible levels” of cyanide. It also confirmed fish deaths were caused by cyanide, copper sulfate and arsenic leaking from the mine’s tailings dam. It was not clear why the EPA did not acknowledge the fourth spill.

    The EPA said the spills it documented occurred before the agency’s current leadership took office in 2024. It said it had ordered Bea Mountain to hire an EPA-certified consultant and reinforce the tailings dam, and that the measures were implemented. It did not say when that occurred.

    “No entity is above the law,” the agency said.

    Following an EPA recommendation, a legally binding agreement was reached in May 2025 for Bea Mountain to relocate and compensate Jikandor village, the community closest to the mine.

    Bea Mountain is now exploring new gold reserves elsewhere in Liberia.

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    Aviram reported from London.

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  • Lawmakers propose $2.5B agency to boost production of rare earths

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    WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of lawmakers have proposed creating a new agency with $2.5 billion to spur production of rare earths and the other critical minerals, while the Trump administration has already taken aggressive actions to break China’s grip on the market for these materials that are crucial to high-tech products, including cellphones, electric vehicles, jet fighters and missiles.

    It’s too early to tell how the bill, if passed, could align with the White House’s policy, but whatever the approach, the U.S. is in a crunch to drastically reduce its reliance on China, after Beijing used its dominance of the critical minerals market to gain leverage in the trade war with Washington. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to a one-year truce in October, by which Beijing would continue to export critical minerals while the U.S. would ease its export controls of U.S. technology on China.

    The Pentagon has shelled out nearly $5 billion over the past year to help ensure its access to the materials after the trade war laid bare just how beholden the U.S. is to China, which processes more than 90% of the world’s critical minerals. To break Beijing’s chokehold, the U.S. government is taking equity stakes in a handful of critical mineral companies and in some cases guaranteeing the price of some commodities using an approach that seems more likely to come out of China’s playbook instead of a Republican administration.

    The bill that Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., introduced Thursday would favor a more market-based approach by setting up the independent body charged with building a stockpile of critical minerals and related products, stabilizing prices, and encouraging domestic and allied production to help ensure stable supply not only for the military but also the broader economy and manufacturers.

    Shaheen called the legislation “a historic investment” to make the U.S. economy more resilient against China’s dominance that she said has left the U.S. vulnerable to economic coercion. Young said creating the new reserve is “a much-needed, aggressive step to protect our national and economic security.”

    When Trump imposed widespread tariffs last spring, Beijing fought back not only with tit-for-tat tariffs but severe restrictions on the export of critical minerals, forcing Washington to back down and eventually agree to the truce when the leaders met in South Korea.

    On Monday, in his speech at SpaceX, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth revealed that the Pentagon has in the past five months alone “deployed over $4.5 billion in capital commitments” to close six critical minerals deals that will “help free the United States from market manipulation.”

    One of the deals involves a $150 million of preferred equity by the Pentagon in Atlantic Alumina Co. to save the country’s last alumina refinery and build its first large-scale gallium production facility in Louisiana.

    Last year, the Pentagon announced it would buy $400 million of preferred stock in MP Materials, which owns the country’s only operational rare earths mine at Mountain Pass, California, and entered into a $1.4-billion joint partnership with ReElement Technologies Corp. to build up a domestic supply chain for rare earth magnets.

    The drastic move by the U.S. government to take equity stakes has prompted some analysts to observe that Washington is pivoting to some form of state capitalism to compete with Beijing.

    “Despite the dangers of political interference, the strategic logic is compelling,” wrote Elly Rostoum, a senior fellow at the Washington-based research institute Center for European Policy Analysis. She suggested that the new model could be “a prudent way for the U.S. to ensure strategic autonomy and industrial sovereignty.”

    But companies across the industry are welcoming the intervention from Trump’s administration.

    “He is playing three-dimensional chess on critical minerals like no previous president has done. It’s about time too, given the military and strategic vulnerability we face by having to import so many of these fundamental building blocks of technology and national defense,” NioCorp’s Chief Communications Officer Jim Sims said. That company is trying to finish raising the money it needs to build a mine in southeast Nebraska.

    In addition to trying to boost domestic production, the Trump administration has sought to secure some of these crucial elements through allies. In October, Trump signed an $8.5 billion agreement with Australia to invest in mining there, and the president is now aggressively trying to take over Greenland in the hope of being able to one day extract rare earths from there.

    On Monday, finance ministers from the G7 nations huddled in Washington over their vulnerability in the critical mineral supply chains.

    U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who has led several rounds of trade negotiations with Beijing, urged attendees to increase their supply chain resiliency and thanked them for their willingness to work together “toward decisive action and lasting solutions,” according to a Treasury statement.

    The bill introduced on Thursday by Shaheen and Young would encourage production with both domestic and allied producers.

    Congress in the past several years has pushed for legislation to protect the U.S. military and civilian industry from Beijing’s chokehold. The issue became a pressing concern every time China turned to its proven tactics of either restricting the supply or turned to dumping extra critical minerals on the market to depress prices and drive any potential competitors out of business.

    The Biden administration sought to increase demand for critical minerals domestically by pushing for more electric vehicle and windmill production. But the Trump administration largely eliminated the incentives for those products and instead chose to focus on increasing critical minerals production directly.

    Most of those past efforts were on a much more limited scale than what the government has done in the past year, and they were largely abandoned after China relented and eased access to critical minerals.

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    Funk reported from Omaha, Nebraska. AP writer Konstantin Toropin contributed to the report.

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  • Greenland’s harsh environment and lack of infrastructure have prevented rare earth mining

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    Greenland’s harsh environment, lack of key infrastructure and difficult geology have so far prevented anyone from building a mine to extract the sought-after rare earth elements that many high-tech products require. Even if President Donald Trump prevails in his effort to take control of the arctic island, those challenges won’t go away.

    Trump has prioritized breaking China’s stranglehold on the global supply of rare earths ever since the world’s number two economy sharply restricted who could buy them after the United States imposed widespread tariffs last spring. The Trump administration has invested hundreds of millions of dollars and even taken stakes in several companies. Now the president is again pitching the idea that wresting control of Greenland away from Denmark could solve the problem.

    “We are going to do something on Greenland whether they like it or not,” Trump said Friday.

    But Greenland may not be able to produce rare earths for years — if ever. Some companies are trying anyway, but their efforts to unearth some of the 1.5 million tons of rare earths encased in rock in Greenland generally haven’t advanced beyond the exploratory stage. Trump’s fascination with the island nation may be more about countering Russian and Chinese influence in the Arctic than securing any of the hard-to-pronounce elements like neodymium and terbium that are used to produce the high-powered magnets needed in electric vehicles, wind turbines, robots and fighter jets among other products.

    “The fixation on Greenland has always been more about geopolitical posturing — a military-strategic interest and stock-promotion narrative — than a realistic supply solution for the tech sector,” said Tracy Hughes, founder and executive director of the Critical Minerals Institute. “The hype far outstrips the hard science and economics behind these critical minerals.”

    Trump confirmed those geopolitical concerns at the White House Friday.

    “We don’t want Russia or China going to Greenland, which if we don’t take Greenland, you can have Russia or China as your next door neighbor. That’s not going to happen,” Trump said

    The main challenge to mine in Greenland is, “of course, the remoteness. Even in the south where it’s populated, there are few roads and no railways, so any mining venture would have to create these accessibilities,” said Diogo Rosa, an economic geology researcher at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland. Power would also have to be generated locally, and expert manpower would have to be brought in.

    Another concern is the prospect of mining rare earths in the fragile Arctic environment just as Greenland tries to build a thriving tourism industry, said Patrick Schröder, a senior fellow in the Environment and Society program at the Chatham House think-tank in London.

    “Toxic chemicals needed to separate the minerals out from the rock, so that can be highly polluting and further downstream as well, the processing,” Shröder said. Plus, rare earths are often found alongside radioactive uranium.

    Besides the unforgiving climate that encases much of Greenland under layers of ice and freezes the northern fjords for much of the year, the rare earths found there tend to be encased in a complex type of rock called eudialyte, and no one has ever developed a profitable process to extract rare earths from that type of rock. Elsewhere, these elements are normally found in different rock formation called carbonatites, and there are proven methods to work with that.

    “If we’re in a race for resources — for critical minerals — then we should be focusing on the resources that are most easily able to get to market,” said David Abraham, a rare earths expert who has followed the industry for decades and wrote the book “The Elements of Power.”

    This week, Critical Metals’ stock price more than doubled after it said it plans to build a pilot plant in Greenland this year. But that company and more than a dozen others exploring deposits on the island remain far away from actually building a mine and would still need to raise at least hundreds of millions of dollars.

    Even the most promising projects can struggle to turn a profit, particularly when China resorts to dumping extra materials onto the market to depress prices and drive competitors out of business as it has done many times in the past. And currently most critical minerals have to be processed in China.

    The U.S. is scrambling to expand the supply of rare earths outside of China during the one-year reprieve from even tougher restrictions that Trump said Xi Jinping agreed to in October. A number of companies around the world are already producing rare earths or magnets and can deliver more quickly than anything in Greenland, which Trump has threatened to seize with military power if Denmark doesn’t agree to sell it.

    “Everybody’s just been running to get to this endpoint. And if you go to Greenland, it’s like you’re going back to the beginning,” said Ian Lange, an economics professor who focuses on rare earths at the Colorado School of Mines.

    Many in the industry, too, think America should focus on helping proven companies instead of trying to build new rare earth mines in Greenland, Ukraine, Africa or elsewhere. A number of other mining projects in the U.S. and friendly nations like Australia are farther along and in much more accessible locations.

    The U.S. government has invested directly in the company that runs the only rare earths mine in the U.S., MP Materials, and a lithium miner and a company that recycles batteries and other products with rare earths.

    Scott Dunn, CEO of Noveon Magnetics, said those investments should do more to reduce China’s leverage, but it’s hard to change the math quickly when more than 90% of the world’s rare earths come from China.

    “There are very few folks that can rely on a track record for delivering anything in each of these instances, and that obviously should be where we start, and especially in my view if you’re the U.S. government,” said Dunn, whose company is already producing more than 2,000 metric tons of magnets each year at a plant in Texas from elements it gets outside of China.

    ___

    Funk reported from Omaha, Nebraska, and Naishadham reported from Madrid.

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  • Stores keep prices down in a tough year for turkeys. Other Thanksgiving foods may cost more

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    CHELSEA, Mich. (AP) — Old Brick Farm, where Larry Doll raises chickens, turkeys and ducks, was fortunate this Thanksgiving season.

    Doll’s small farm west of Detroit had no cases of bird flu, despite an ongoing outbreak that killed more than 2 million U.S. turkeys in the last three months alone. He also avoided another disease, avian metapneumovirus, which causes turkeys to lay fewer eggs.

    “I try to keep the operation as clean as possible, and not bringing other animals in from other farms helps mitigate that risk as well,” said Doll, whose farm has been in his family for five generations.

    But Doll still saw the impact as those diseases shrank the U.S. turkey flock to a 40-year low this year. The hatchery where he gets his turkey chicks had fewer available this year. He plans to order another 100 hatchlings soon, even though they won’t arrive until July.

    AP AUDIO: Stores keep prices down in a tough year for turkeys. Other Thanksgiving foods may cost more

    In an AP interview, Michigan Sate University food economist David Ortega says although turkey prices are forecasted to be 40 percent higher this year than last year, there are bargains to be had.

    “If you don’t get your order in early, you’re not going to get it,” he said.

    Thanksgiving costs vary

    The shrinking population is expected to cause wholesale turkey prices to rise 44% this year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Despite the increase, many stores are offering discounted or even free turkeys to soften the potential blow to Thanksgiving meal budgets. But even if the bird is cheaper than last year, the ingredients to prepare the rest of the holiday feast may not be. Tariffs on imported steel, for example, have increased prices for canned goods.

    As of Nov. 17, a basket of 11 Thanksgiving staples — including a 10-pound frozen turkey, 10 Russet potatoes, a box of stuffing and cans of corn, green beans and cranberry sauce – cost $58.81, or 4.1% more than last year, according to Datasembly, a market research company that surveys weekly prices at 150,000 U.S. stores. That’s higher than the average price increase for food eaten at home, which rose 2.7% in September, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    Datasembly showed a 2% decline in the retail price of a 10-pound turkey as of Nov. 17. Pricing out Thanksgiving meals isn’t an exact science, and the firm’s tally differed from other estimates.

    The American Farm Bureau Federation, which uses volunteer shoppers in all 50 states to survey prices, reported that Thanksgiving dinner for 10 would cost $55.16 this year, or 5% less than last year. The Wells Fargo Agri-Food Institute, using NielsenIQ data from September, estimated that feeding 10 people on Thursday using store-brand products would cost $80 this year, which is 2% to 3% lower than last year’s estimate.

    Tempting turkey prices

    Grocery chains are also offering deals to attract shoppers. Discount grocer Aldi is advertising a $40 meal for 10 with 21 items. Kroger said shoppers could feed 10 people for under $50 with its menu of store-brand products.

    Earlier this month, President Donald Trump touted Walmart’s Thanksgiving meal basket, which he said was 25% cheaper than last year. But that was because Walmart included a different assortment and fewer products overall this year.

    “We’re seeing some promotions being implemented in an effort to draw customers into the store,” David Ortega, a professor of food economics and policy at Michigan State University, said.

    That’s despite a sharp increase in wholesale turkey prices since August. In the second week of November, frozen 8-16 pound hens were averaging $1.77 per pound, up 81% from the same period last year, according to Mark Jordan, the executive director of Leap Market Analytics, which closely follows the poultry and livestock markets.

    Avian viruses are the main culprit. But another reason for turkey’s higher wholesale prices has been an increase in consumer demand as other meats have gotten more expensive, Jordan said. Beef prices were up 14% in September compared to last year, for example.

    “For a big chunk of the population, they look at steak cuts and say, ‘I can’t or I don’t want to pay $30 a pound,’” Jordan said.

    That’s the case for Paul Nadeau, a retired consultant from Austin, Texas, who plans to smoke a turkey this week. Nadeau said he usually smokes a brisket over Thanksgiving weekend, but the beef brisket he buys would now cost more than $100. Turkey prices are also up at his local H-E-B supermarket, he said, but not by as much.

    “I don’t know of anything that’s down in price since last year except for eggs,” Nadeau said.

    Turkeys are seen on a farm Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025, in Sylvan Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Mike Householder)

    Tariffs and weather

    Trump’s tariffs on imported steel and aluminum are also raising prices. Farok Contractor, a distinguished professor of management and global business at the Rutgers Business School, said customers are paying 10 cents to 40 cents more per can when companies pass on the full cost of tariffs.

    Tariffs may be partly to blame for the increased cost of jellied cranberry sauce, which was up 38% from last year in Datasembly’s survey. But weather was also a factor. U.S. cranberry production is expected to be down 9% this year, hurt by drought conditions in Massachusetts, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

    In Illinois, where most of the country’s canning pumpkins are grown, dry weather actually helped pumpkins avoid diseases that are more prevalent in wet conditions, said Raghela Scavuzzo, an associate director of food systems development at the Illinois Farm Bureau and the executive director of the Illinois Specialty Growers Association. Datasembly found that a 30-ounce can of pumpkin pie mix cost 5% less than last year.

    Frozen turkeys are on display at a Meijer store Friday, Nov. 21, 2025, in Canton Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Mike Householder)

    Frozen turkeys are on display at a Meijer store Friday, Nov. 21, 2025, in Canton Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Mike Householder)

    Cans of pumpkin are on display at a Meijer store Friday, Nov. 21, 2025, in Canton Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Mike Householder) _

    Cans of pumpkin are on display at a Meijer store Friday, Nov. 21, 2025, in Canton Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Mike Householder) _

    Potatoes are on display at a Meijer store Friday, Nov. 21, 2025, in Canton Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Mike Householder)

    Potatoes are on display at a Meijer store Friday, Nov. 21, 2025, in Canton Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Mike Householder)

    Farm to table

    Back at Old Brick Farm, which has been in his family since 1864, Doll walked among his turkeys the week before Thanksgiving, patting their heads as they waddled between their warm barn and an open pasture. In a few days, he planned to deliver them to an Amish butcher.

    Doll sold all 92 turkeys he raised this year, with customers paying $6.50 per pound for what many tell him is the best turkey they’ve ever tasted. He enjoys a little profit, he said, and the good feeling of supplying a holiday meal.

    “I just love it, to think that, you know, not only are we providing them food, but the centerpiece of their Thanksgiving dinner,” he said.

    ___

    Associated Press Video Journalist Mike Householder contributed.

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  • Stores keep prices down in a tough year for turkeys. Other Thanksgiving foods may cost more

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    CHELSEA, Mich. — Old Brick Farm, where Larry Doll raises chickens, turkeys and ducks, was fortunate this Thanksgiving season.

    Doll’s small farm west of Detroit had no cases of bird flu, despite an ongoing outbreak that killed more than 2 million U.S. turkeys in the last three months alone. He also avoided another disease, avian metapneumovirus, which causes turkeys to lay fewer eggs.

    “I try to keep the operation as clean as possible, and not bringing other animals in from other farms helps mitigate that risk as well,” said Doll, whose farm has been in his family for five generations.

    But Doll still saw the impact as those diseases shrank the U.S. turkey flock to a 40-year low this year. The hatchery where he gets his turkey chicks had fewer available this year. He plans to order another 100 hatchlings soon, even though they won’t arrive until July.

    “If you don’t get your order in early, you’re not going to get it,” he said.

    The shrinking population is expected to cause wholesale turkey prices to rise 44% this year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Despite the increase, many stores are offering discounted or even free turkeys to soften the potential blow to Thanksgiving meal budgets. But even if the bird is cheaper than last year, the ingredients to prepare the rest of the holiday feast may not be. Tariffs on imported steel, for example, have increased prices for canned goods.

    As of Nov. 17, a basket of 11 Thanksgiving staples — including a 10-pound frozen turkey, 10 Russet potatoes, a box of stuffing and cans of corn, green beans and cranberry sauce – cost $58.81, or 4.1% more than last year, according to Datasembly, a market research company that surveys weekly prices at 150,000 U.S. stores. That’s higher than the average price increase for food eaten at home, which rose 2.7% in September, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    Datasembly showed a 2% decline in the retail price of a 10-pound turkey as of Nov. 17. Pricing out Thanksgiving meals isn’t an exact science, and the firm’s tally differed from other estimates.

    The American Farm Bureau Federation, which uses volunteer shoppers in all 50 states to survey prices, reported that Thanksgiving dinner for 10 would cost $55.16 this year, or 5% less than last year. The Wells Fargo Agri-Food Institute, using NielsenIQ data from September, estimated that feeding 10 people on Thursday using store-brand products would cost $80 this year, which is 2% to 3% lower than last year’s estimate.

    Grocery chains are also offering deals to attract shoppers. Discount grocer Aldi is advertising a $40 meal for 10 with 21 items. Kroger said shoppers could feed 10 people for under $50 with its menu of store-brand products.

    Earlier this month, President Donald Trump touted Walmart’s Thanksgiving meal basket, which he said was 25% cheaper than last year. But that was because Walmart included a different assortment and fewer products overall this year.

    “We’re seeing some promotions being implemented in an effort to draw customers into the store,” David Ortega, a professor of food economics and policy at Michigan State University, said.

    That’s despite a sharp increase in wholesale turkey prices since August. In the second week of November, frozen 8-16 pound hens were averaging $1.77 per pound, up 81% from the same period last year, according to Mark Jordan, the executive director of Leap Market Analytics, which closely follows the poultry and livestock markets.

    Avian viruses are the main culprit. But another reason for turkey’s higher wholesale prices has been an increase in consumer demand as other meats have gotten more expensive, Jordan said. Beef prices were up 14% in September compared to last year, for example.

    “For a big chunk of the population, they look at steak cuts and say, ‘I can’t or I don’t want to pay $30 a pound,’” Jordan said.

    That’s the case for Paul Nadeau, a retired consultant from Austin, Texas, who plans to smoke a turkey this week. Nadeau said he usually smokes a brisket over Thanksgiving weekend, but the beef brisket he buys would now cost more than $100. Turkey prices are also up at his local H-E-B supermarket, he said, but not by as much.

    “I don’t know of anything that’s down in price since last year except for eggs,” Nadeau said.

    Trump’s tariffs on imported steel and aluminum are also raising prices. Farok Contractor, a distinguished professor of management and global business at the Rutgers Business School, said customers are paying 10 cents to 40 cents more per can when companies pass on the full cost of tariffs.

    Tariffs may be partly to blame for the increased cost of jellied cranberry sauce, which was up 38% from last year in Datasembly’s survey. But weather was also a factor. U.S. cranberry production is expected to be down 9% this year, hurt by drought conditions in Massachusetts, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

    In Illinois, where most of the country’s canning pumpkins are grown, dry weather actually helped pumpkins avoid diseases that are more prevalent in wet conditions, said Raghela Scavuzzo, an associate director of food systems development at the Illinois Farm Bureau and the executive director of the Illinois Specialty Growers Association. Datasembly found that a 30-ounce can of pumpkin pie mix cost 5% less than last year.

    Back at Old Brick Farm, which has been in his family since 1864, Doll walked among his turkeys the week before Thanksgiving, patting their heads as they waddled between their warm barn and an open pasture. In a few days, he planned to deliver them to an Amish butcher.

    Doll sold all 92 turkeys he raised this year, with customers paying $6.50 per pound for what many tell him is the best turkey they’ve ever tasted. He enjoys a little profit, he said, and the good feeling of supplying a holiday meal.

    “I just love it, to think that, you know, not only are we providing them food, but the centerpiece of their Thanksgiving dinner,” he said.

    ___

    Associated Press Video Journalist Mike Householder contributed.

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  • European Union welcomes suspension of China’s rare earth controls

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    BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union has agreed with China on stabilizing the flow of rare earth materials and products from China that are critical elements for many high-tech and military products, an official said Tuesday. EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič met with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao in Brussels on Friday to discuss Beijing’s export controls on rare earths issued in April and October, and European regulations on semiconductor sales, said Olof Gill, a spokesperson for the European Commission, the 27-nation bloc’s executive arm. Like the U.S., Europe runs a huge trade deficit with China — around 300 billion euros ($345 billion) last year. It relies heavily on China for rare earth material and products, which are also used to make magnets used in cars and appliances.

    Gill said that the EU welcomed China’s recent 12-month suspension of rare earths export controls, and called for a new and stable system of trade in the critical materials. The EU is working with China on an export licensing system to ensure a more stable flow of rare earth minerals to the bloc, he said.

    “This is an appropriate and responsible step in the context of ensuring stable global trade flows in a critically important area,” Gill said.

    Šefčovič said that that Brussels and Beijing were continuing to speak about further trade measures.

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    “Both sides reaffirmed commitment to continue engagement on improving the implementation of export control policies,” he said in an X post.

    China is the EU’s second-largest trading partner in goods, after the United States. Bilateral trade is estimated at 2.3 billion euros ($2.7 billion) per day.

    Both China and the EU believe it’s in their interest to keep their trade ties stable for the sake of the global economy, and they share certain climate goals.

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  • China’s rare earth export delay offers US a chance to weaken Beijing’s grip on the market

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    China’s promise to delay its newest restrictions on the export of the rare earths that are crucial to many high-tech products for one year as part of a trade agreement President Donald Trump secured creates an opportunity for the U.S. and its allies to bolster their own production and processing capabilities. But it will be hard to undercut China’s stranglehold on the market.

    The restrictions China imposed on rare earths this year have been a key issue in the trade talks between Beijing and Washington. Trump responded angrily to China’s latest rules with a threat to impose an additional 100% tariff on all Chinese imports, but he has since dropped that demand as part of this agreement.

    This week’s deal will delay the regulations that would have required foreign companies to get special approval to export items that contain even small traces of rare earths elements sourced from China even if those products were made elsewhere by foreign companies, but it doesn’t eliminate restrictions that were imposed in the spring after Trump imposed his tariffs.

    These critical minerals are needed in a broad range of products, from jet engines, radar systems, electric vehicles and robots to consumer electronics including laptops and phones. China accounts for nearly 70% of the world’s rare earths mining. It also controls roughly 90% of global rare earths processing.

    Neha Mukherjee, a rare earths analyst at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, said the one-year delay in China’s new rare earth export controls that were announced earlier this month provides some short-term relief that will allow exports to return to a more normal level, but it doesn’t change the broader strategic picture, and it’s important for America and its allies to continue investing in the industry.

    “This move appears more tactical than structural, a pause to stabilize trade relations with the U.S. rather than a policy reversal,” Mukherjee said. “This is a temporary window for the U.S. and allies to accelerate diversification before controls likely return.”

    The White House has made it a priority to revive and expand the domestic critical minerals industry while also seeking supplies of these elements from allies. The Pentagon agreed to invest $400 million in rare-earth producer MP Materials and promised to ensure every magnet made at its massive new plant is bought and set a minimum price for its neodymium and praseodymium products for a decade.

    Ian Lange, who is an economics professor who focuses on rare earths at the Colorado School of Mines, said he thinks the U.S. and its allies can make significant progress in a year’s time to lessen China’s dominance of the rare earths market.

    There are a number of promising efforts already underway. Noveon will continue to produce rare earth magnets at its plant in Texas, and MP Materials and USA Rare Earth are both scheduled to begin producing magnets at their plants over the next year. And starting next year MP also plans to begin processing the heavy rare earths China had restricted in the spring at the only operating U.S. rare earths mine in Mountain Pass, California.

    And Lange said that other efforts to recycle rare earths and begin producing them as byproducts at existing steel and zirconium mines may also start to pay off. The United States’ recent agreement with Australia will also help provide additional materials to counter China.

    China has shown little sign of being willing to allow rare earth exports to defense contractors, which is concerning given the national security implications. But military demand for rare earths is relatively small, so America might be able to supply its needs by prioritizing rare earths from other sources for use in fighter jets, guided missiles and nuclear submarines.

    Industry executives have said this needs to be the “Manhattan Project moment” for rare earths if the United States is ever to break China’s grip over them.

    “We’re moving into overtime with China and they currently have the ball on our 10-yard line. Our best defensive move is to tie together our global refining and supply partnerships with allies and swiftly invest in innovation in the United States,” said Wade Senti, president of the U.S. permanent magnet company AML.

    Noveon Magnetics CEO Scott Dunn said the details of “how China implements this suspension will matter greatly, and with the deal limited to one year, it’s clear the U.S. must use this window to strengthen domestic capabilities and reduce long-term exposure to geopolitical risk.”

    Lange said he is optimistic overall because the United States isn’t starting from zero, and if these efforts continue at their current pace, America should be much better off in a year even if some of the things the government is investing in will take several years to become a reality.

    “Because in a year, we don’t really care what they do. We’ve got an independent supply chain. At least I don’t think we’re too far from that,” Lange said.

    ___

    Associated Press writer Didi Tang contributed to this report from Washington.

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  • To hit back at the United States in trade war, China borrows from the US playbook

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    WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — China likes to condemn the United States for extending its arm too far outside of its borders to make demands on non-American companies. But when it sought to hit back at the U.S. interests this month, Beijing did exactly the same.

    In expanding export rules on rare earths, Beijing for the first time announced it will require foreign firms to obtain approval from the Chinese government to export magnets containing even tiny amounts of China-originated rare earth materials or produced with Chinese technology.

    That means a South Korean smartphone maker must ask for Beijing’s permission to sell the devices to Australia if the phones contain China-originated rare earth materials, said Jamieson Greer, the U.S. trade representative. “This rule gives China control over basically the entire global economy in the technology supply chain,” he said.

    For anyone familiar with U.S. trade practice, China is simply borrowing a decades-long U.S. policy: the foreign direct product rule. It extends the reach of U.S. law to foreign-made products, and it has been used regularly to restrict China’s access to certain U.S. technologies made outside of the United States, even when they are in the hands of foreign companies.

    It is the latest example of Beijing turning to U.S. precedents for tools it needs to stare down Washington in what appears to be an extended trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

    “China is learning from the best,” said Neil Thomas, a fellow on Chinese politics at Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis. “Beijing is copying Washington’s playbook because it saw firsthand how effectively U.S. export controls could constrain its own economic development and political choices.”

    He added: “Game recognizes game.”

    It was in 2018, when President Donald Trump launched a trade war with China, that Beijing felt the urgency to adopt a set of laws and policies that it could readily deploy when new trade conflicts arise. And it looked to Washington for ideas.

    Its Unreliable Entity List, established in 2020 by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, resembles the U.S. Commerce Department’s “entity list” that restricts certain foreign companies from doing businesses with the U.S.

    In 2021, Beijing adopted the anti-foreign sanction law, allowing agencies such as the Chinese Foreign Ministry to deny visas and freeze the assets of unwelcome individuals and businesses — similar to what the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Department of Treasury can do.

    Calling it a toolkit against foreign sanctions, intervention and long-arm jurisdiction, the state-run news agency China News in a 2021 news report cited an ancient Chinese teaching, saying Beijing would be “hitting back with the enemy’s methods.”

    The law “has combed through relevant foreign legislation and taken into consideration the international law and the basic principles of international relations,” said the Chinese scholar Li Qingming as quoted in the news report. He also said it could deter the other side from escalating.

    Other formal measures Beijing has adopted in the past several years include expanded export controls and foreign investment review tools.

    Jeremy Daum, a senior research scholar in law and senior fellow at Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center, said Beijing often draws from foreign models in developing its laws in non-trade, non foreign-related areas. As China seeks capabilities to retaliate in kind in trade and sanctions, the tools are often “very parallel” to those of the U.S., he said.

    Both governments also have adopted a “holistic view of national security,” which expands the concept to justify restrictions on each other, Daum said.

    When Trump launched his trade war with China shortly after he returned to the White House earlier this year, Beijing readily deployed its new tools in addition to raising tariffs to match those imposed by the U.S. president.

    In February, in response to Trump’s first 10% tariff on China over allegations that Beijing failed to curb the flow of chemicals used to make fentanyl, the Chinese Commerce Ministry put PVH Group, which owns Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger and the biotechnology company Illumina, on the unreliable entity list.

    That barred them from engaging in China-related import or export activities and from making new investments in the country. Beijing also announced export controls on tungsten, tellurium, bismuth, molybdenum and indium, which are elements critical to the production of modern high-tech products.

    In March, when Trump imposed the second 10%, fentanyl-related tariff, Beijing placed 10 more U.S. firms on its unreliable entity list and added 15 U.S. companies to its export control list, including aerospace and defense companies like General Dynamics Land Systems and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, among others, asserting that they “endanger China’s national security and interests.”

    Then came the so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs in April, when Beijing not only matched Trump’s sky-high tariff of 125% but also blacklisted more U.S. companies and announced export controls on more rare earth minerals. That led to a pause in the shipment of magnets needed in manufacturing a wide range of products such as smartphones, electric vehicles, jet planes and missiles.

    While the new tools have allowed China to stare down the United States, Daum said they are not without risks.

    “The dangers in such a facially balanced and fair approach are, one, what one side sees as reciprocity the other might interpret as escalation,” he said. And second, “in a race to the bottom, nobody wins.”

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  • China sanctions 5 US units of South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean over probe by Washington

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    HONG KONG — HONG KONG (AP) — China’s Commerce Ministry said Tuesday it was banning dealings by Chinese companies with five subsidiaries of South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean in the latest swipe by Beijing at U.S. President Donald Trump’s effort to rebuild the industry in America.

    The ministry also announced that it was also investigating a probe by Washington into China’s growing dominance in world shipbuilding and threatened more retaliatory measures. It said the U.S. probe endangers China’s national security and its shipping industry and cited Hanwha’s involvement in the investigation.

    The U.S. Trade Representative launched the Section 301 trade investigation in April 2024. It determined that China’s strength in the industry was a burden to U.S. businesses.

    “China just weaponized shipbuilding,” said Kun Cao, deputy chief executive at consulting firm Reddal. “Beijing is signaling it will hit third-country firms that help Washington counter China’s maritime dominance.”

    International shipping and shipbuilding have yet another areas of friction between Washington and Beijing. Each side has imposed new port fees on each others’ vessels that took effect on Tuesday.

    Hanwha Ocean’s shares traded in South Korea fell as much as over 8% on Tuesday.

    The company said via email that “Hanwha Ocean is aware of the announcement made by the Chinese government and is closely reviewing its potential business impact on the company.”

    The sanctioned entities are Hanwha Shipping LLC, Hanwha Philly Shipyard Inc., Hanwha Ocean USA International LLC, Hanwha Shipping Holdings LLC and HS USA Holdings Corp.

    A truce in the trade war between the world’s two biggest economies appears to have unraveled after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a new 100% tariff on imports from China, expressing frustration over new Chinese export controls on rare earths.

    The escalation of antagonisms raised doubts over whether Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will go ahead with a meeting planned for late this month. But Beijing said on Tuesday that China and the U.S. held working-level talks on Monday and have maintained communication.

    South Korea and the U.S. have been building closer ties in shipbuilding in response to China’s dominance as the world’s largest shipbuilder.

    In late 2024, Hanwha acquired the Philly Shipyard in Pennsylvania for $100 million. It announced in August that it plans to invest $5 billion in new docks and quays as part of its support for U.S. efforts to restore globally competitive shipbuilding capacity.

    Last year, Hanwha Ocean also secured contracts with the U.S. Navy to perform maintenance, repair and overhaul work for U.S. naval vessels.

    China said its new port fees would apply to ships owned by U.S. companies or other entities or individuals, those operated by U.S. entities including those having a U.S. stake of 25% or more, vessels flying a U.S. flag and vessels built in the United States, mirroring in many aspects the U.S.’s port fees on Chinese ships.

    U.S. businesses represents just 2.9% of world fleet ownership by capacity and 0.1% of global shipbuilding tonnage. Trump has vowed to help rebuild the industry as part of his broader push to expand U.S.-based manufacturing.

    Hanwha Ocean said in May that it was withdrawing from a joint venture in China.

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  • China sanctions 5 US units of shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean over probe by Washington

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    HONG KONG — HONG KONG (AP) — China’s Commerce Ministry said Tuesday it was banning dealings by Chinese companies with five subsidiaries of South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean in the latest swipe by Beijing at U.S. President Donald Trump’s effort to rebuild the industry in America.

    The ministry also announced that it was also investigating a probe by Washington into China’s growing dominance in world shipbuilding and threatened more retaliatory measures. It said the U.S. probe endangers China’s national security and its shipping industry and cited Hanwha’s involvement in the investigation.

    The U.S. Trade Representative launched the Section 301 trade investigation in April 2024. It determined that China’s strength in the industry was a burden to U.S. businesses.

    “China just weaponized shipbuilding,” said Kun Cao, deputy chief executive at consulting firm Reddal. “Beijing is signaling it will hit third-country firms that help Washington counter China’s maritime dominance.”

    International shipping and shipbuilding have yet another areas of friction between Washington and Beijing. Each side has imposed new port fees on each others’ vessels that took effect on Tuesday.

    Hanwha Ocean’s shares traded in South Korea fell as much as over 8% on Tuesday.

    The company said via email that “Hanwha Ocean is aware of the announcement made by the Chinese government and is closely reviewing its potential business impact on the company.”

    The sanctioned entities are Hanwha Shipping LLC, Hanwha Philly Shipyard Inc., Hanwha Ocean USA International LLC, Hanwha Shipping Holdings LLC and HS USA Holdings Corp.

    A truce in the trade war between the world’s two biggest economies appears to have unraveled after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a new 100% tariff on imports from China, expressing frustration over new Chinese export controls on rare earths.

    The escalation of antagonisms raised doubts over whether Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will go ahead with a meeting planned for late this month. But Beijing said on Tuesday that China and the U.S. held working-level talks on Monday and have maintained communication.

    South Korea and the U.S. have been building closer ties in shipbuilding in response to China’s dominance as the world’s largest shipbuilder.

    In late 2024, Hanwha acquired the Philly Shipyard in Pennsylvania for $100 million. It announced in August that it plans to invest $5 billion in new docks and quays as part of its support for U.S. efforts to restore globally competitive shipbuilding capacity.

    Last year, Hanwha Ocean also secured contracts with the U.S. Navy to perform maintenance, repair and overhaul work for U.S. naval vessels.

    China said its new port fees would apply to ships owned by U.S. companies or other entities or individuals, those operated by U.S. entities including those having a U.S. stake of 25% or more, vessels flying a U.S. flag and vessels built in the United States, mirroring in many aspects the U.S.’s port fees on Chinese ships.

    U.S. businesses represents just 2.9% of world fleet ownership by capacity and 0.1% of global shipbuilding tonnage. Trump has vowed to help rebuild the industry as part of his broader push to expand U.S.-based manufacturing.

    Hanwha Ocean said in May that it was withdrawing from a joint venture in China.

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  • China vows to stand firm against Trump’s 100% tariff threat

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    BEIJING — BEIJING (AP) — China signaled Sunday that it would not back down in the face of a 100% tariff threat from President Donald Trump, urging the U.S. to resolve differences through negotiations instead of threats.

    “China’s stance is consistent,” the Commerce Ministry said in a statement posted online. “We do not want a tariff war but we are not afraid of one.”

    The response came two days after Trump threatened to jack up the tax on imports from China by Nov. 1 in response to new Chinese restrictions on the export of rare earths, a key ingredient for many consumer and military products.

    The back and forth threatens to derail a possible meeting between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping and end a truce in a tariff war in which new tariffs from both sides briefly topped 100% in April.

    Trump has raised taxes on imports from many U.S. trading partners this year, seeking to win concessions in return for tariff reductions. China has been one of the few countries that hasn’t backed down, relying on its economic clout.

    “Frequently resorting to the threat of high tariffs is not the correct way to get along with China,” the Commerce Ministry said in its online post, which was presented as a series of answers from an unnamed spokesperson to questions from unspecified media outlets.

    The statement called for addressing any concerns through dialogue.

    “If the U.S. side obstinately insists on its practice, China will be sure to resolutely take corresponding measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests,” the post said.

    Both sides accuse the other of violating the spirit of the truce by imposing new restrictions on trade.

    Trump said China is “becoming very hostile” and that it’s holding the world captive by restricting access to rare earth metals and magnets.

    China’s new regulations require foreign companies to get special approval to export items that contain even small traces of rare earths elements sourced from China. These critical minerals are needed in a broad range of products, from jet engines, radar systems and electric vehicles to consumer electronics including laptops and phones.

    China accounts for nearly 70% of the world’s rare earths mining and controls roughly 90% of global rare earths processing. Access to the material is a key point of contention in trade talks between Washington and Beijing.

    The ministry post said that export licenses would be granted for legitimate civilian uses, noting that the minerals also have military applications.

    The Chinese Commerce Ministry post said that the U.S. has introduced several new restrictions in recent weeks, including expanding the number of Chinese companies subject to U.S. export controls.

    It also said that the U.S. is ignoring Chinese concerns by going forward with new port fees on Chinese ships that take effect Tuesday. China announced Friday that it would impose port fees on American ships in response.

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  • Trump suggests calling off Xi meeting after blasting China for restricting rare earths exports

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    WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday that “there seems to be no reason” to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as part of an upcoming trip to South Korea after China restricted exports of rare earths needed for American industry.

    The Republican president suggested that he was looking at a “massive increase” of import taxes on Chinese products in response to Xi’s moves.

    “One of the Policies that we are calculating at this moment is a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States of America,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. “There are many other countermeasures that are, likewise, under serious consideration.”

    The United States and China have been jockeying for advantage in trade talks, after the import taxes announced earlier this year triggered a trade war between the world’s two largest economies. Both nations agreed to ratchet down tariffs after negotiations in Switzerland and the United Kingdom, yet tensions remain as China has sought to restrict America’s access to the difficult-to-mine rare earth’s needed for a wide array of U.S. technologies.

    On Thursday, the Chinese government restricted access to the rare earths ahead of the scheduled Trump-Xi meeting. Beijing would require foreign companies to get special approval for shipping the metallic elements aboard. It also announced permitting requirements on exports of technologies used in the mining, smelting and recycling of rare earths, adding that any export requests for products used in military goods would be rejected.

    Trump said that China is “becoming very hostile” and that it’s holding the world “captive” by restricting access to the metals and magnets used in electronics, computer chips, lasers, jet engines and other technologies.

    “I have not spoken to President Xi because there was no reason to do so,” Trump posted. “This was a real surprise, not only to me, but to all the Leaders of the Free World.”

    The U.S. president said the move on rare earths was “especially inappropriate” given the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza so that the remaining hostages from Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack can be released. He raised the possibility without evidence that China was trying to steal the moment from him for his role in the ceasefire, saying on social media, “I wonder if that timing was coincidental?”

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  • China hits US ships with retaliatory port fees before trade talks

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    HONG KONG — HONG KONG (AP) — China has hit U.S.-owned vessels docking in the country with tit-for-tat port fees, in response to the American government’s planned port fees on Chinese ships, expanding a string of retaliatory measures before trade talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

    Vessels owned or operated by American companies or individuals, and ships built in the U.S. or flying the American flag, would be subjected to a 400 yuan ($56) per net ton fee per voyage if they dock in China, China’s Ministry of Transport said on Friday.

    The fees would be applied on the same ship for a maximum of five voyages each year, and would rise every year until 2028, when it would hike to 1,120 yuan ($157) per net ton, the ministry said. They would take effect on Oct. 14, the same day when the United States is due to start imposing port fees on Chinese vessels.

    China’s Ministry of Transport said on Friday in a statement that its special fees on American vessels are “countermeasures” in response to “wrongful” U.S. practices, referring to the planned U.S. port fees on Chinese vessels.

    The ministry also slammed the United States’ port fees as “discriminatory” that would “severely damage the legitimate interests of China’s shipping industry” and “seriously undermine” international economic and trade order.

    China has announced a string of trade measures and restrictions before an expected meeting between Trump and Xi on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in South Korea that begins at the end of October. On Thursday, Beijing unveiled new curbs on exports of rare earths and related technologies, as well as new restrictions on the export of some lithium battery and related production equipment.

    The port fees announced by Beijing on Friday mirrors many aspects of the U.S. port fees on Chinese ships docking in American ports. Under Washington’s plans, Chinese-owned or -operated ships will be charged $50 per net ton for each voyage to the U.S., which would then rise by $30 per net ton each year until 2028. Each vessel would be charged no more than five times per year.

    China’s new port fee is “not just a symbolic move,” said Kun Cao, deputy chief executive at consulting firm Reddal. “It explicitly targets any ship with meaningful U.S. links — ownership, operation, flag, or build — and scales steeply with ship size.”

    The “real bite is on U.S.-owned and operated vessels,” he said, adding that North America accounts for roughly 5% of the world fleet by beneficial ownership, which is still a meaningful figure although not as huge as compared to Greek, Chinese and Japanese ship owners.

    However, the United States has only about 0.1% of global commercial shipbuilding market share in recent years and built fewer than 10 commercial ships last year, Reddal added.

    While shipping analysts have said that the U.S. port fees on Chinese vessels would likely have limited impact on trade and freight rates as some shipping companies have been redeploying their fleets to avoid the extra charge, shipping data provider Alphaliner warned last month in a report that the U.S. port fees could still cost up to $3.2 billion next year for the world’s top 10 carriers.

    ___

    This story has been corrected to show that the Alphaliner report was from last month, not this month.

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  • China outlines more controls on exports of rare earths and technology

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    HONG KONG — HONG KONG (AP) — China outlined new curbs on exports of rare earths and related technologies on Thursday, extending controls over use of the elements critical for many products ahead of a meeting later this month between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

    The regulations announced by the Ministry of Commerce require foreign companies to get special approval to export items that contain even small traces of rare earths elements sourced from China.

    Beijing also will impose permitting requirements on exports of technologies related to rare earths mining, smelting, recycling and magnet-making, it said.

    China accounts for nearly 70% of the world’s rare earths mining. It also controls roughly 90% of global rare earths processing. Access to such materials is a key point of contention in trade talks between Washington and Beijing.

    As Trump has raised tariffs on imports of many products from China, Beijing has doubled down on controls on the strategically vital minerals, raising concerns over potential shortages for manufacturers in the U.S. and elsewhere.

    It was not immediately clear how China plans to enforce the new policies overseas.

    The critical minerals are used in a broad range of products, from jet engines, radar systems and automotives to consumer electronics including laptops and phones.

    The new restrictions are to “better safeguard national security” and to stop uses in “sensitive fields such as the military” that stem from rare earths processed or sourced from China or from its related technologies, the Commerce Ministry said.

    It said some unnamed “overseas bodies and individuals” had transferred rare earths elements and technologies from China abroad for military or other sensitive uses which caused “significant damage” to its national security.

    The new curbs were announced just weeks ahead of an expected meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in late October on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in South Korea.

    “Rare earths will continue to be a key part of negotiations for Washington and Beijing,” George Chen, a partner at The Asia Group, said in an emailed comment. “Both sides want more stability but there will be still a lot of noises before the two leaders, President Trump and Xi, can make a final deal next year when they meet. Those noises are all negotiation tactics.”

    In April, Chinese authorities imposed export curbs on seven rare earth elements shortly after Trump unveiled his steep tariffs on many trading partners including China.

    While supplies remain uncertain, China approved some permits for rare earth exports in June and said it was speeding up its approval processes.

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  • Gold prices soar to new records amid US government shutdown

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    NEW YORK — As uncertainty deepens amid the U.S. government’s first shutdown in almost seven years, the gold frenzy continues to climb to new heights.

    The going price for New York spot gold hit a record $3,858.45 per troy ounce — the standard for measuring precious metals — as of market close Tuesday, ahead of the shutdown beginning overnight. And futures continued to climb on Wednesday, dancing with the $3,900 mark as of midday trading.

    Gold sales can rise sharply when anxious investors seek “safe havens” for parking their money. Before Wednesday, the asset — and other metals, like silver — have seen wider gains over the last year, particularly with President Donald Trump ‘s barrage of tariffs plunging much of the world into economic uncertainty.

    If trends persist, analysts have predicted that prices could continue to soar. Still, gold can be volatile and the future is never promised. Here’s what we know.

    Gold futures more than 45% since the start of 2025, trading at just over $3,895 by around 12:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

    Other precious metals have also raked in gains — with silver seeing an even bigger percentage jump year to date. Silver futures are up more than 59%, trading at nearly $48 per ounce as of midday Wednesday.

    A lot of it boils down to uncertainty. Interest in buying metals like gold typically spikes when investors become anxious.

    Much of the recent economic turmoil has spanned from Trump’s trade wars. Since the start of 2025, steep new tariffs the president has imposed on goods coming into the U.S. from around the world have strained businesses and consumers alike — pushing costs higher and weakening the job market. As a result, hiring has plunged while inflation continues to inch back up. And more and more consumers are expressing pessimism about the road ahead.

    The current U.S. government shutdown could add to those anxieties. A key jobs report from the Labor Department, scheduled for Friday, is likely to be delayed, for example. And the shutdown itself threatens to bring its own economic fallout nationwide. Roughly 750,000 federal workers were expected to be furloughed, with some potentially fired by Trump’s Republican administration. Many offices will also be shuttered, perhaps permanently, as Trump vows to “do things that are irreversible” to punish Democrats for voting down GOP legislation.

    The scope of impact could come down to how long the impasse lasts. Wall Street, meanwhile, has largely been unmoved by the shutdown so far — but Treasury yields dropped after discouraging hiring data from ADP Research Wednesday.

    Investments in gold have also been driven by other factors over time. Analysts have previously pointed to strong gold demand from central banks around the world — including amid rising geopolitical tensions, such as the ongoing wars in Gaza and Ukraine.

    Advocates of investing in gold call it a “safe haven” — arguing the commodity can serve to diversify and balance your investment portfolio, as well as mitigate possible risks down the road. Some also take comfort in buying something tangible that has the potential to increase in value over time.

    Still, experts caution against putting all your eggs in one basket. And not everyone agrees gold is a good investment. Critics say gold isn’t always the inflation hedge many say it is — and that there are more efficient ways to protect against potential loss of capital, such as derivative-based investments.

    The Commodity Futures Trade Commission has also previously warned people to be wary of investing in gold. Precious metals can be highly volatile, the commission said, and prices rise as demand goes up — meaning “when economic anxiety or instability is high, the people who typically profit from precious metals are the sellers.”

    And even gold’s current rally has seen some volatility. While still up significantly overall since the start of the year, there’s been a handful of short stretches with losses. Gold prices fell for several days following Trump’s sweeping “Liberation Day” announcement on April 2, for example.

    If you do choose to invest in gold, the commission adds, it’s important to educate yourself on safe trading practices and be cautious of potential scams and counterfeits on the market.

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  • What to know about China’s new regulations on rare earths

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    BANGKOK (AP) — China released new interim measures Friday tightening controls on mining and processing of rare earths that are used in many high-tech products including electric vehicles, smartphones and fighter jets.

    The rules released Friday by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology apply both to rare earths originating in China and those that are sent to China for refining.

    They require companies to comply with quotas for various minerals. Companies must have government approval to deal with rare earths and must accurately report the amount of rare earths products being handled. Violators will face legal penalties and also have their quotas for rare earths reduced.

    Here’s what to know.

    Why China has tightened controls on rare earths

    The 17 rare earth elements, including such minerals as germanium, gallium and titanium, aren’t actually rare. But they’re hard to find in a high enough concentration to make mining them worth the investment. China has been gradually tightening restrictions on exports of such materials, partly in response to U.S. controls on its access to American advanced technology.

    In April, just after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a raft of tariffs on dozens of U.S. trading partners, Beijing announced permitting requirements for seven more rare earths: samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium, citing the need to “better safeguard national security and interests and to fulfill global duties of non-proliferation.”

    Those limits raised worries that manufacturers in the U.S. and elsewhere would run short of vital materials needed for production, an issue in China-U.S. trade talks. In response to U.S. concessions on access to computer chip design software and jet engines, Beijing announced in June that it was speeding up approvals of rare earths exports.

    In July, China’s Ministry of State Security said it was cracking down on alleged smuggling of rare earths materials that it said threatened national security, indicating Beijing was moving to exert more control.

    China’s dominant role in the rare earths sector

    Over the past several decades, China has come to dominate rare earths processing. It now supplies nearly 90% of the world’s rare earths, even though it mines only about 70% of such materials.

    China holds nearly half of the world’s known reserves of rare earths, but it also imports significant amounts of rare earths from neighboring Myanmar for processing and export.

    Since it controls technologies used for refining rare earth elements and has banned exporting that know-how, China holds a near-monopoly on smelting and separating them.

    In 2024, the United States obtained 70% of the rare earths it used from China; 13% from Malaysia; 6% from Japan and 5% from Estonia. Some of the elements obtained from non-Chinese intermediate sources came from mineral concentrates processed in China and Australia, according to the U.S. Geologic Survey.

    The impact of the new rules on rare earths trade is unclear

    China has agreed to issue some permits for rare earth exports but not for military uses, and much uncertainty remains about their supply.

    The rules released Friday spell out tighter controls on licensing of companies dealing in rare earths and centralize controls on mining, exports and processing. They also impose more stringent environmental standards for the industry.

    Trump has made it a priority to try to reduce American reliance on China for rare earths, while pushing for Beijing to ease its controls.

    China has opted to dial up or down the approval process as needed, while tightening overall controls on the industry.

    The new regulations don’t spell out the quotas for production and export or specific rare earths elements, but strongly suggest Beijing is serious about exerting stronger control over the industry.

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