Tariff Clash Over Rare Earths Threatens Tech and EV Prices

President Donald Trump announced a 100% tariff on Chinese imports in response to Beijing’s new export controls on rare-earth minerals.
China refines more than 90% of processed rare earths — a group of 17 elements (15 lanthanides plus scandium and yttrium) essential for magnets, EV motors, batteries, radar, and many consumer-electronics components.
Tariffs are paid initially by manufacturers and importers but are typically passed on to consumers, raising the risk of higher prices for electric vehicles, smartphones, TVs and other devices.
Markets reacted sharply as investors reassessed cost pressures for firms reliant on these inputs, and analysts warn that supply constraints could deepen thanks to China’s dominant refining capacity.
Beijing has signalled that compliant civilian export applications will be approved, yet experts say that export curbs or reciprocal tariffs would still widen bottlenecks and stoke inflation.
The dispute is intensifying calls to diversify supply chains, expand recycling and develop domestic processing and refining. Policymakers and industry face pressure to shore up secure, resilient value chains for mobility, robotics and next-generation electronics while trying to limit near-term price shocks.