With the United States and China ratcheting down the tariff war (for 90 days at least), many expected that the export of rare earths and permanent magnets would soon return to pre-trade war conditions, as MetalMiner’s weekly newsletter weighed in on in the past. However, that does not seem to be happening on the ground. Now, alarm bells are going off as market insiders anticipate a major shortage in global rare earth supplies.
There is a bit of positive news: China has granted a few export licenses to some companies, including those that supply to European customers. According to a Reuters report, this includes a rare earth magnet producer that supplies automaker Volkswagen. Quoting unnamed sources, the report stated that export permits had been issued to a total of four magnet producers, the first since China curbed shipments back in April of this year.
Hopeful analysts see this as a sign that the critical materials will eventually start to flow at a more global level. But even though Beijing may have started approving some exports of rare earths, the actual implementation on the ground continues to delay the processing of these critical minerals. This caused some alarm among manufacturers in auto, defense and other industries that require these critical elements, including those in the U.S.
For the rest of this article: https://agmetalminer.com/2025/05/22/rare-earths-china-global-supply/