Global alarms rise as China's critical mineral export ban takes hold
(Reuters) - Alarm over China's stranglehold on critical minerals grew on Tuesday as global automakers joined their U.S. counterparts to complain that restrictions by China on exports of rare earth alloys, mixtures and magnets could cause production delays and outages without a quick solution.
German automakers became the latest to warn that China's export restrictions threaten to shut down production and rattle their local economies, following a similar complaint from an Indian EV maker last week.
China's decision in April to suspend exports of a wide range of critical minerals and magnets has upended the supply chains central to automakers, aerospace manufacturers, semiconductor companies and military contractors around the world.
The move underscores China's dominance of the critical mineral industry and is seen as leverage by China in its ongoing trade war with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Trump has sought to redefine the trading relationship with the U.S.' top economic rival China by imposing steep tariffs on billions of dollars of imported goods in hopes of narrowing a wide trade deficit and bringing back lost manufacturing.
Trump imposed tariffs as high as 145% against China only to scale them back after stock, bond and currency markets revolted over the sweeping nature of the levies. China has responded with its own tariffs and is leveraging its dominance in key supply chains to persuade Trump to back down.
Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to talk this week and the export ban is expected to be high on the agenda.
Shipments of the magnets, essential for assembling everything from cars and drones to robots and missiles, have been halted at many Chinese ports while the Chinese government drafts a new regulatory system. Once in place, the new system could permanently prevent supplies from reaching certain companies, including American military contractors.
The suspension has triggered anxiety in corporate boardrooms and nations' capitals - from Tokyo to Washington - as officials scrambled to identify limited alternative options amid fears that production of new automobiles and other items could grind to a halt by summer's end.
"If the situation is not changed quickly, production delaysand even production outages can no longer be ruled out," Hildegard Mueller, head of Germany's auto lobby, told Reuters on Tuesday.
Frank Fannon, a minerals industry consultant and former U.S. assistant secretary of state for energy resources during Trump's first term, said the global disruptions are not shocking to those paying attention.
'I don't think anyone should be surprised how this is playing out. We have a production challenge (in the U.S.) and we need to leverage our whole of government approach to secure resources and ramp up domestic capability as soon as possible. The time horizon to do this was yesterday,' Fannon.
Diplomats, automakers and other executives from India, Japan and Europe were urgently seeking meetings with Beijing officials to push for faster approval of rare earth magnet exports, sources told Reuters, as shortages threatened to halt global supply chains.
A business delegation from Japan will visit Beijing in early June to meet the Ministry of Commerce over the curbs and European diplomats from countries with big auto industries have also sought "emergency" meetings with Chinese officials in recent weeks, Reuters reported.
India, where Bajaj Auto warned that any further delays in securing the supply of rare earth magnets from China could "seriously impact" electric vehicle production, is organizing a trip for auto executives in the next two to three weeks.
In May, the head of the trade group representing General Motors, Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai and other major automakers raised similar concerns in a letter to the Trump administration.
"Without reliable access to these elements and magnets,automotive suppliers will be unable to produce criticalautomotive components, including automatic transmissions,throttle bodies, alternators, various motors, sensors, seatbelts, speakers, lights, motors, power steering, and cameras,"the Alliance for Automotive Innovation wrote in the letter.
(Reporting By Jarrett Renshaw; additional reporting by Ernest Scheyder in Washington; editing by Chris Sanders and Marguerita Choy)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
18 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Musk vows to start a third party. Funding's no issue, but there are others.
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Even some of Musk's own supporters have expressed doubts about the direction he now plans to take, preferring that he stay focused on the business ideas that fueled his net worth of roughly $400 billion. Advertisement But as his improbable bid to buy Twitter and front-and-center role in the 2024 election showed, Musk has defied expectations before. If nothing else, he could make life difficult for lawmakers he says have reneged on their promise to cut spending. Advertisement 'Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame!' Musk wrote on X, the social media platform he bought when it was still named Twitter, this week. 'And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.' Musk, who didn't respond to a request for comment, has already identified his next target: the reelection campaign of Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky), who opposes Trump's signature legislative package. Urged to support Massie by former GOP congressman Justin Amash, a Trump foe who declared himself an independent in a 2019 op-ed decrying the two-party system as an 'existential threat,' Musk replied, 'I will.' Representative Thomas Massie speaks to the media following a vote to stop a government shutdown at the Capitol on March 11. Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post Massie did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday about Musk starting a third party, but he posted a Fox News story about the chief executive's plans to donate to his campaign. 'An interesting thing just happened,' Massie wrote on X. With Trump already working to defeat Massie next year, the race in northern Kentucky appears to be the first to pit the two billionaires against each other. On Capitol Hill, where the Senate passed the massive tax and spending bill Tuesday afternoon, there were few signs of alarm about Musk. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma), when asked by reporters Monday evening about Musk's threats to punish Republicans who vote for Trump's plan, said the billionaire is not top of mind at the Capitol. 'Doesn't matter, doesn't matter at all, no. It's not even been a conversation of ours,' he said. 'I mean, if we ran every time someone said something about our election, we'd live in fear the whole time.' Advertisement Senator Markwayne Mullin bounces a rubber ball through the Ohio Clock Corridor on Monday, on Capitol Hill. Tom Brenner/For The Washington Post Unless that someone is Trump. Two Republican lawmakers who have been at odds with Trump both said in rapid succession this week that they would not seek reelection. Rep. Don Bacon (Nebraska), who has taken issue with Trump's tariffs and policy toward Russia, announced his retirement Monday. The day before, Sen. Thom Tillis (North Carolina) said he would not seek a third term after Trump vowed to punish him for opposing his legislative package. That leaves Massie as one of the only points of Republican resistance in Congress to Trump's agenda. Musk's decision to cast himself as a potential third-party leader raises questions about his political vision. It has just been in the last few years that he has evolved from Democratic-leaning Trump critic to staunchly Republican Trump acolyte. Trump allies mocked his latest incarnation. 'I think it's the ketamine talking in the middle of the night,' said Trump pollster Jim McLaughlin, referring to media reports about Musk's drug use that he has denied. 'Trump is the Republican Party right now. He is the conservative movement. There's not a hankering for a third party with Elon Musk.' A Gallup poll last year found that 58 percent of U.S. adults agree that a third party is needed in the U.S. because the Republican and Democratic parties 'do such a poor job' of representing the American people. Support for a third party has averaged 56 percent since 2003, according to Gallup. History shows that third-party candidates are rarely victorious. Ross Perot, one of the most successful independent candidates for president in American history, received about 19 percent of the popular vote and no electoral college votes. Advertisement 'Third parties are traditionally spoilers or wasted votes,' said Lee Drutman, senior fellow at the New America think tank. 'But if Musk's goal is to cause chaos and make a point and disrupt, it gets a lot easier.' Ralph Nader's presidential bid in 2000 was a classic example of a disruptive campaign, Drutman said, contributing to an outcome so close that Republican George W. Bush prevailed over Democrat Al Gore only after the Supreme Court weighed in. Ralph Nader acknowledges his mother at an event at the National Press Club before watching the election night voting unfold. Lucian Perkins/TWP The trend in the U.S. toward increased political polarization also makes it more difficult for third-party candidates, Drutman said. When Perot ran in 1992, Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush were both running as centrists, allowing Perot to argue that there wasn't much daylight between the two major parties. By contrast, the differences between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump in the 2024 election were much more stark. America's political diversity also complicates matters, Drutman said. 'If there clearly was a party in the center that was more popular than the Democrats or the Republicans, then someone would have organized it by now,' he said. 'It's not like we've just been waiting for Elon Musk to show up.' Musk entered politics in earnest during the 2024 presidential election. Beyond his massive financial investment, Musk frequently appeared alongside Trump at rallies and cheered him on over X. But since Trump's win, Musk's experience in politics has been turbulent. Earlier this year, the billionaire and groups affiliated with him donated more than $20 million in a bid to help conservatives take control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. In the final stretch of the campaign, Musk drew derision for wearing a foam cheesehead at a town hall and for directing his America PAC to pay registered voters for signing petitions. A couple of voters won $1 million prizes. Advertisement But even with the race flooded with Musk's cash, the conservative judicial candidate — whom Trump also endorsed — lost by a wide margin in April. Musk's personal presence in the race did his candidate harm, said Barry Burden, director of the University of Wisconsin's Elections Research Center. Conservative voters appreciated Musk's money, but that wasn't enough to overcome negative perceptions of an ultra-wealthy outsider injecting himself into the state's politics, Burden said, adding that Musk's presence galvanized greater liberal turnout. 'A new party is going to benefit most from Musk if they can draw on his resources but keep him in the background,' Burden said. 'And if he can portray himself as an innovator and a tech entrepreneur — and somebody who is really contributing to the American economy and funding this new operation without being its front person — I think that's probably going to lead to the most success.' Musk floated his idea of a new party nearly one month ago on June 5, after days of criticizing the massive GOP tax bill as a measure that would burden the country with 'crushingly unsustainable debt.' 'Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?' Musk wrote, along with a poll. Since then, Musk has regularly posted about starting a new party and going after lawmakers who vote for the spending bill. 'If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day,' Musk wrote Monday. Advertisement A person who has served as a sounding board for Musk, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter, questioned Musk's ultimate strategy in undermining a party he had hoisted to victory beyond wanting 'to be in the driver's seat.' 'I agree our government is broken, but it's a tougher problem to fix than landing a rocket,' the person said. Paul Kane contributed to this report.
Yahoo
18 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Dalai Lama confirms he will have a successor after his death
Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has confirmed he will have a successor, putting to rest speculation over whether the 600-year-old institution will end when he dies. In a video message keenly-awaited by his followers, he said only the trust that he founded could appoint his successor and "no-one else has any authority to interfere in this matter". According to Tibetan tradition, Dalai Lamas are "reincarnated" after they die. China annexed Tibet in 1950 and the current Dalai Lama lives in exile in India, making succession a highly contentious issue. Beijing rejected the statement, saying his successor would be from inside China and must be approved by the government. Hundreds of followers gathered on Wednesday to hear the long-awaited announcement in the Indian town of Dharamshala where the Dalai Lama lives. The Dalai Lama Library and Archive centre, where the video message was broadcast, resembled a sea of maroon with monks from all over the world in attendance. "I am affirming that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue," the Dalai Lama's statement said. He reiterated that "the Gaden Phodrang Trust, the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama... should accordingly carry out the procedures of search and recognition in accordance with past tradition". Who is the Dalai Lama and why does he live in exile? Dharamshala is holding the Dalai Lama's milestone 90th birthday celebrations which began on Monday - his birthday according to the Tibetan lunar calendar - and will conclude on 6 July, his official birthday. Celebrations will be attended by more than 7,000 guests, including a number of Indian ministers. Hollywood actor Richard Gere, a long-time follower, is also taking part. In the past, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism had been torn between whether to continue with the post of Dalai Lama or not. A few years ago, he said his successor might be a girl, or that there might be no successor at all. But in recent years, he had also said that if there was widespread support among Tibetans-in-exile for the post - which there is - then it would continue and his office would choose a successor. He has always insisted that his successor must be born outside China and his reiteration of the same on Wednesday did not go down well with Beijing. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said that the Dalai Lama's reincarnation must comply with Chinese laws and regulations as well as "religious rituals and historical conventions" and would need to be approved by Beijing. Even though the Dalai Lama has always advocated a "middle way" to resolve the status of Tibet - genuine self-rule within China - Beijing regards him as a separatist. It says the standard of living of people in Tibet has greatly improved under its rule and denies suppressing their human rights and freedom of expression. A dam ignited rare Tibetan protests. They ended in beatings and arrests, BBC finds Dalai Lama furore reignites Tibet 'slave' controversy How China's boarding schools are silencing Tibet's language The Dalai Lama's message "affirming that the continuation of the institution" has been welcomed by his followers. Tsayang Gyatso, a 40-year-old businessman, said that for most Tibetans, the announcement is "a great relief and a moment of happiness". "I always had a belief that the reincarnation will come. But having heard it from His Holiness, I feel elated," he told the BBC in Dharamshala. Mr Gyatso, who had travelled from Delhi, said he felt "blessed to be here in person to witness His Holiness's birthday". He said there was "a lot of propaganda from China on the appointment of the next Dalai Lama" which made him fear that the appointment process could be corrupted "but all that has been put to rest by His Holiness's announcement". Robert Barnett, a Tibet scholar at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, told the BBC that the Dalai Lama's "message is indirect signalling" to China. "He's signalling two things here. One is he's going to decide on his reincarnation, not China. And the other is he's showing China that he's made this decision through a kind of popular - almost democratic - process of asking the community whether they want his institution to continue." That's a signal to China that his legitimacy is based on consent and not on force, Prof Barnett said. Experts, however, say China is also expected to name its own Dalai Lama. Dibyesh Anand, professor of International Relations at the University of Westminster, said, "After a period of a few months or a few years, they will have their own proteges identify a small boy as the next Dalai Lama and impose that. Of course, a majority of Tibetans are going to reject it and the majority of people in the world are going to make fun of it. But remember China has immense authority in terms of resources so they will try to impose that." Youdon Aukatsang, an MP in the Tibetan parliament-in-exile, told the BBC that "despite all these years of trying to control the hearts and minds of Tibetan people inside Tibet", Beijing has "completely failed". A Dalai Lama chosen by China, she says, "will not be recognised, not only by the Tibetans but the world will not recognise it because China doesn't have the legitimacy to find the future Dalai Lama". "We are concerned but we know that irrespective of our concern, China will come up with their own Dalai Lama, we will call it the Chinese-recognised Dalai Lama. I am not worried that Dalai Lama will have any credibility in the Tibetan world or the Buddhist world." China 'coercing Tibetans into mass labour camps'
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
House members in mad scramble back to DC to vote on Trump's ‘Big Beautiful Bill' after heading home for July 4
Members of the House of Representatives from both parties were forced to return to Washington, D.C. to vote on President Donald Trump's 'One Big, Beautiful Bill' after the Senate passed it, Politico reported. With Trump exerting great pressure on Speaker Mike Johnson to get the bill to his desk for a signing before the July 4 holiday, the House plans to vote on the bill as soon as possible. That triggered a mad dash back to the nation's capital and comes amid a Republican rift over the amended bill — which would force cuts to Medicaid and makes states shoulder more of the cost for food assistance while extending the 2017 tax cuts Trump signed. Republican Rep. Nancy Mace posted that she and her team would travel back from South Carolina by van. We have secured a van for a DC road trip tonight to make it in time for votes on BBB tomorrow. Hoah! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 — Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) July 1, 2025 'We have secured a van for a DC road trip tonight to make it in time for votes on BBB tomorrow,' Mace posted. Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, who is running for Illinois' open Senate seat, hosted a Zoom town hall as he drove 14 hours to Washington after his flight was canceled. We made it. Drove overnight from IL to vote NO on this Large Lousy Law. — Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (@CongressmanRaja) July 2, 2025 'We made it,' he said. 'Drove overnight from IL to vote NO on this Large Lousy Law.' By coincidence, Rep. Derek Tran of California wound up stranded in the Pittsburgh airport, so he and fellow Democratic Rep. Chris DeLuzio of Pennsylvania drove to Washington and hosted a virtual town hall as well. Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin posted how his flight was canceled because of thunderstorms, so he would drive to Chicago to make an early flight to Washington. The bill passed the House of Representatives narrowly last month, partially due to the fact that three Democratic members of Congress had died. House Speaker Mike Johnson has scheduled a vote for the morning. The vote comes after the Senate conducted a marathon 27-hour vote-a-rama before passing the bill by a 51-50 margin with Vice President JD Vance breaking a tie in the Senate. Three Republicans--Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine and Thom Tillis of North Carolina--opposed the bill. But many House members have criticized the bill. During a House Rules Committee hearing, Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, who criticized the bill last month but nonetheless voted for it, said the Senate 'failed' with the bill. Plenty of Republican members also fear the cuts to Medicaid could disproportionately hurt their constituents.
