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https://scmp.com/news/china/article/3024275/chinas-rare-earth-magnet-exports-us-rise-despite-trade-war-threats China
China’s rare earth magnet exports to US rise despite trade war threats
- Chinese producers have threatened to restrict sales to the United States but last months customs data shows sales to the US increased last month
China is the world’s biggest producer of rare earths. Photo: Reuters
Chinese exports of rare earth magnets to the United States rose last month, customs figures show, despite a threat to restrict supplies as part of the ongoing trade war.
China is the world’s dominant producer of rare earth magnets, which are widely used in medical devices and consumer electronics as well as defence.
It has previously threatened to restrict the rare earth supply to the United States, although no formal measures have been announced.
Shipments of rare earth magnets totalled 447 tonnes last month, according to data from the General Administration of Customs released on Sunday. That compared with 414 tonnes in June and 356 tonnes in July 2018.
Another key rare earth product for the United States is lanthanum, which is used in the oil-refining industry. Exports of lanthanum oxide stood at 966 tonnes in July, the customs data showed.
That was more than double the 433 tonnes in June and up 119.5 per cent from 440 tonnes in July 2018.
Exports of lanthanum carbonate, meanwhile, were at 119 tonnes, just below 120 tonnes in June and down 71.9 per cent year-on-year.
China’s overall rare earth exports, which can fluctuate wildly, rose by 32.2 per cent in July from the previous month to their highest level since December, according to data released on August 8.
Early in August, China’s rare earth producers, who control the lion’s share of the world’s output of the elements, said they are ready to use their dominance of the industry as a weapon in the country’s trade war with the United States.
Chinese producers said they would pass any tariffs on to customers, in a move that would almost certainly add to the cost of the magnets, motors, light-emitting diodes and hundreds of other devices, according to an industry guild that represents almost 300 miners, processors and manufacturers.
The industry “resolutely supports the nation’s counter measures against US import tariffs on Chinese products,” the Association of China Rare Earth Industry said. “US consumers must shoulder the costs from US-imposed tariffs.”