After US President Trump's historic visit to China, on May 20, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce explained the preliminary results of Sino-US economic and trade consultations. Regarding the export control of rare earths, the Sino-US economic and trade teams conducted thorough communication on issues related to export control. Both sides will jointly study and resolve each other's legitimate concerns. The Chinese government implements export controls over key minerals such as rare earths in accordance with laws and regulations, and reviews applications for licenses that are compliant and for civilian use. China is willing to work with the US side to create favorable conditions for promoting mutually beneficial cooperation between enterprises of both countries and ensuring the safety and stability of the global industrial and supply chains.
According to Reuters on June 10, the United States-China Trade Council (USCBC) stated in a report on Wednesday that American companies have made some progress in obtaining key minerals from China. However, it also noted that due to export controls and delays in approval processes, some rare earth elements are still “almost impossible to obtain from China”.
USCBC President Sean Stein revealed in an interview with Reuters that samarium-cobalt magnets, which are crucial for high-temperature aerospace and defense applications, as well as yttrium and cadmium, remain minerals that American companies find difficult to obtain.
USCBC has over 270 US member companies operating in China. The survey, targeting member enterprises, was conducted in February and March prior to Trump's visit to China. Data shows that among the 38 affected companies, 29% of businesses indicated they were actively seeking key mineral suppliers outside of China, while another 47% of companies are currently looking for alternative solutions, but have yet to find a viable option.
The US side report states, “Companies remain unconvinced regarding their ability to secure stable mineral resources in the long term.”
USCBC report screenshot
However, when it comes to companies seeking alternative channels, Tan Son also admitted that the Trump administration is making every effort to restore the mineral supply chains in the United States and its allies. However, even with multiple measures taken by the US side, it will be difficult to completely resolve the problem of mineral supply shortages in the next three years.
The USCBC’s “2026 Annual China Business Environment Survey” report states that American companies are establishing new supply chains, seeking viable alternatives in both technical and commercial aspects. “This process will take several years and require government support.”
Report author and USCBC vice president Kyle Sullivan also stated that since China holds a dominant position in both the extraction and deep processing of rare earths, it is difficult for the US to obtain raw rare earth minerals. Even the stable procurement of finished rare earth magnets is challenging for the US.
This is precisely the perfect time for Congress to intervene (in the United States), because this issue cannot be resolved solely by the Trump administration.
Over the past few years, the United States has been actively promoting what they call "key mineral diplomacy," attempting to establish supply chains that bypass China on a global scale. Since 2023, the US has signed memorandums of understanding regarding key minerals with several countries, from Central Asia to Latin America, and even Africa. Despite these frequent diplomatic efforts, these agreements have generally faced difficulties in implementation over the past few years.
"Numerous agreements of this kind have always failed to transcend superficial efforts." The US "Forbes" website published an article on June 4th, stating that the speed at which American policy declarations are made is far exceeding the progress of project implementation. Financing support, processing capacity construction, logistics infrastructure, and downstream industry development have all lagged behind significantly. Both government authorities of participating countries and markets are becoming increasingly clear about the massive gap between rhetoric in English and actual funding contributions.
The article points out that the current strategy of the United States for key minerals still follows the principle of “mineral priority”, which involves obtaining more raw materials from so-called “friendly countries” in order to weaken China’s market influence in the processing of key minerals.
According to this logic, as more mineral resources are developed in ‘friendly countries’, diversified upstream supplies will gradually encourage the construction of refining facilities and related industrial chains, thereby forming new industrial ecosystems.
However, the problem is that mining development not only involves the construction of mines themselves, but also requires supporting infrastructure such as railways, ports, processing facilities, export financing, power generation, water supply, and long-term procurement agreements. Without these essential infrastructures and industrial support, new mines often struggle to break away from reliance on existing systems. In contrast, China has built a complete ecosystem for key minerals over several decades.
At the regular press conference of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on May 28, a Russian journalist asked that recently, the Chinese Embassy in the United States posted a picture on overseas social media accounts, stating that China would impose export controls on rare metals according to domestic regulations. However, according to the agreement reached between China and the United States earlier, it was agreed that this restriction measure would be suspended until November 10, 2026. Why did China decide to initiate these special controls earlier than expected?
Spokesperson Mao Ning responded, "As far as I know, the Chinese Embassy in the United States has shared the preliminary results of the Sino-US economic and trade consultations. Both China and the US should jointly implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, and maintain a stable development of Sino-US economic and trade relations."
