China suspends rare-earth export control measures, easing key flashpoint in US-China trade war — one-year reprieve allows for trade talks with the U.S. to continue

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Softer stance will reduce the pressure on the trade negotiations between the U.S. and China.

Lynas Rare Earth
(Image credit: Lynas Rare Earth)

Beijing just announced that it will suspend the expanded rare-earth export controls it announced in early October. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and the General Administration of Customs said that it will delay its implementation for a year, according to a report from Digitimes. The original expanded rule covers China-sourced rare-earth minerals, as well as any technology in which these materials account for at least 0.1% of the item’s value.

The suspension will give companies that rely on these resources and components some breathing room to stockpile them and find alternative sources. It will also reduce the pressure at the negotiating table, as bureaucrats will have more time to iron out agreements between their rivals without pressure from the top to get something hammered out fast.

Although MOFCOM did not state why it’s delaying the implementation of these export controls, it comes a little over a week after U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed on a tariff truce. The two world leaders met in Busan, along the sidelines of the 2025 APEC Summit in South Korea, where they held a two-hour closed-door meeting. Before this, Trump responded to Beijing’s expanded export controls by threatening a 100% import duty on Chinese goods, as well as a complete ban on critical software, which could have been more devastating than additional taxes.

This will likely be a blow to the world’s most valuable company, especially as its China market share has essentially fallen to zero from a high of 95% just a few years ago. While other experts argue that giving the United States' biggest rival in the AI race the latest hardware will only be to its own detriment, Huang contends that the spread of U.S. chips is vital for Washington to retain its competitive advantage, especially in a country that is estimated to have about half of the world’s AI developers in its talent pool. However, Huang's position as the chief of the biggest AI chip manufacturer means that he will also benefit from Nvidia’s sales to both the U.S. and China, as the two rivals race for global AI supremacy.

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Jowi Morales
Jowi Morales
Contributing Writer

Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He’s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he’s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics.

1 Comment Comment from the forums
  • Moxylite
    Often find it rather amazing that China is willing to play ball, considering that the U.S. has China surrounded by many U.S. bases in a potential breakout scenario & are somewhat diplomatically at odds around the globe. I'm sure it has something to do with India or Russia, somehow.

    I suppose that China needs these REE's just as much as the U.S., and the costs of extraction would likely skyrocket or halt the processing entirely in some cases. China with 4.11x the U.S. population, and developing six times faster militarily, and have some very deep bunkers, friendly with Iran, NK etc. is probably not so worried. Fighting them all at once would surely be a nightmare- including loads of unjammable dumb missiles, drones, lasers, hypersonic nukes, space tech, chem-bio warfare, etc

    Further bans on critical mineral inputs will only widen the gap, enabling China to strengthen its military capabilities more quickly than the United States. Production of F-35 fighter jets, Virginia- and Columbia-class submarines, Tomahawk missiles, advanced radar systems, Predator unmanned aerial vehicles, and the Joint Direct Attack Munition series of smart bombs would cease. For example, the F-35 fighter jet contains over 900 pounds of REEs. An Arleigh Burke-class DDG-51 destroyer requires approximately 5,200 pounds, while a Virginia-class submarine uses around 9,200 pounds.
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