EU industry could grind to a halt over China’s rare earth restrictions

The EU Chamber of Commerce in China has held several meetings with China’s Ministry of Commerce, its secretary general Adam Dunnett told the South China Morning Post, and senses Beijing is overwhelmed with applications to export the minerals vital for many hi-tech goods.

“Thousands of applications need to be reviewed but the ministry’s resources are limited. We’ve seen a sprinkling of approvals in the last week, but some companies have lodged dozens of applications … some have had to stop production,” Dunnett, also vice-chair of the European Business Organisation, told journalists in Brussels on Tuesday.

Rare earths consist of 17 elements. On April 4, Beijing added seven of these – dysprosium, gadolinium, lutetium, samarium, scandium, terbium and yttrium – to its export control list, plus several rare earth magnets, two days after Trump announced “reciprocal tariffs”.