China’s rare earth clampdown deepens EU anxiety on industry and Ukraine support
Observers and business leaders suggest Europe should prepare for Beijing to ramp up this economic lever
On Thursday, China’s Ministry of Commerce announced a sweeping “upgrade” of rare earth licensing requirements that have been in place since April, expanding them to cover the export of technologies used to process the minerals.
The move also tightens licensing requirements for products containing even traces of rare earths produced in China, which has a near-monopoly on the market for the ingredients used in critical military and hi-tech goods.
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What are rare earths, and why is China’s dominance facing global pushback
“Retaliatory measures are hitting us as collateral damage, and the best example of that is the export control measures of the Chinese government on rare earths that are hitting and hurting our companies, which have been even worsened today,” Jorge Toledo, the EU’s ambassador to China, said in an address to a conference in The Hague.