China ramps up rare earth exports after fright for global buyers

China’s exports of rare earth products — including magnets — extended their recovery in July, months after Beijing threatened a disruptive global shortage by crimping supplies to fight a trade clash with US President Donald Trump.

Shipments jumped last month to reach their highest since January, well before China leveraged its dominance of rare earths to hit back at Trump’s punitive tariffs. Beijing agreed to resume flows to the US as part of a trade truce with Washington.

Data released Monday covers rare earth products, a category typically dominated by so-called permanent magnets. Volumes sold overseas rose 69% to 6,422 tons in July, according to Bloomberg News calculations.
China produces about 90% of the world’s rare-earth magnets and its export controls launched in early April threatened to deprive major manufacturers from India to Europe and the US of a small but critical component. The US has since unveiled plans to boost domestic output of rare earths and magnets.

Exports from China reached a low in May after China launched the curbs, which covered shipments of seven rare earths as well as products made from them. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said earlier this month that China was “about halfway there” in terms of returning magnet supplies to where they were prior to the controls.

China’s weaponization of rare earths didn’t just affect the US, and the slump in supplies also contributed to growing tensions between the European Union and China. More granular data on exports of magnets, and the countries to which they were shipped, should be released on Wednesday.