China retains rare earth export controls as bargaining chip amid trade war truce with US

Rare earths are critical minerals used in everything from semiconductors and green technology to the defence industry. - Reuters

SHENZHEN: Even as China and the US roll back tariffs and other trade salvos amid a 90-day truce, there is one powerful source of leverage that Beijing appears to be retaining: the control of its exports of critical minerals, including rare earths.

China’s Commerce Ministry said on Monday (May 12), the same day that details of the US-China agreement were announced, that strengthening export controls of strategic mineral resources was crucial to national security.