China Defends Rare Earth Curbs Amid Trade Tensions

Beijing blamed the United States for raising trade tensions and defended restrictions on rare-earth exports, presenting the measures as protections for strategic resources and national security.

Rare earths are critical for high-performance magnets, catalysts and components used in electric vehicles, renewable-energy systems and certain defense electronics, so export curbs can create supply-chain stress for advanced manufacturers.

Taiwanese officials and industry contacts said the island’s chip sector has seen no significant immediate disruption from the measures, though firms are monitoring shipments and contingency sourcing closely.

Global markets softened as investors weighed the risk of broader spillovers; strategists note that even limited controls tend to accelerate supplier diversification, domestic processing investment, recycling initiatives and targeted R&D to reduce dependency.

Analysts say the moves are likely to prolong strategic friction between the two economies and trigger a range of industry responses rather than an instant production collapse, underlining the complex interplay of geopolitics and critical-minerals supply chains.