China Hits U.S., Europe With New Rare Earths Export Controls– legalinsurrection.com

Early this year, the Trump administration unveiled a new minerals stockpile initiative called “Project Vault,” which prioritizes the development of mines and processing operations for more than 50 minerals deemed critical.

This move comes on top of Trump’s pursuit of new alliances to challenge China’s control over these essential resources. Additionally, the administration has been expediting mine openings, supporting new smelting operations, and exploring deep-sea options for these resources.

These developments are likely not making Chinese officials happy. Subsequently, it should not come as a surprise that China has now imposed new export controls on rare earths bound for this country.

China added MP Materials (MP.N) and USA Rare Earth (USAR.O) as well as eight other ​U.S. entities it said are linked to the U.S. military to its export ‌control list in retaliation for Washington placing several Chinese companies under restrictions this month.

Aveox, a motor manufacturer for mission-critical applications, was also among those placed on the list, which halts Chinese dual-use exports to the companies.

Pentagon-backed ​MP Materials, which operates the only active rare earth mine in the U.S., and ​USA Rare Earth are both involved in the mine-to-magnet supply chain.

USA Rare ⁠Earth said it did not have any comment on the matter. MP Materials and Aveox were ​not available for comment outside of business hours.

At this point, U.S. AI policy toward China has become a motivational speaker with sanctions.