China's Rare-Earth Magnet Exports Surge After Xi-Trump Deal

China's rare-earth magnet exports rose to 6,150 metric tons in November, the second-highest monthly total on record and a 12% increase from October.
January remains the top month at 6,357 tons. The rebound follows April export curbs that had choked global supply chains for weapons systems, electric vehicles and consumer electronics.
At a late-October summit, leaders agreed to streamline shipments: Beijing introduced special export categories to accelerate approvals while Washington eased some tariff pressures in return. The arrangement appears to be restoring flows but leaving distribution uneven — U.S. imports fell about 11% to 582 tons, while Japan's purchases jumped roughly 35% to 305 tons despite diplomatic frictions.
Rare-earth magnets, particularly neodymium-based grades, are small in volume but outsized in strategic importance, embedded in motors, guidance systems and miniaturized electronics. China's export control demonstrated how supply concentration can be weaponized; the November recovery shows diplomacy can reverse a disruption but not eliminate leverage.
Policy implications include renewed efforts by consuming nations to diversify suppliers, invest in recycling and scale domestic processing, and hedge against future geopolitical spikes that could again unsettle critical technology supply chains.