China’s rare earth shipments to US fall 20% ahead of Trump-Xi summit
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "China’s rare earth shipments to US fall 20% ahead of Trump-Xi summit")
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China’s rare earth shipments to the US fell 20% in August, adding to trade tensions ahead of the scheduled Trump-Xi summit.
Chinese shipment of rare earth to the US has fallen to 512 tonnes in August, 20 per cent lower than the previous month in July and 13 per cent lower than the same month in the previous year. Rare earths are among one of the many things that have been a point of friction between China and the US, ahead of the scheduled summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.
China is the world's largest producer of rare earths and their magnets. These are among the dozens of Chinese-controlled critical minerals that are necessary in advanced and high-tech hardware production used in electric vehicles, consumer electronics, and military hardware. China has previously used the access to rare earths as a bargaining chip against US tariffs. The average monthly export volume so far this year stands at approximately 504 tons, well below the 621-ton monthly average recorded in 2024 before controls took effect.
US believes that China has not completely lived up to its commitment to uninterrupted supply, a key part of the one-year fragile trade truce agreed between the two leaders in Busan last November. People familiar with Beijing's strategy have indicated that China hopes to offer more export licenses as a bargaining chip during the summit, though they did not specify what concessions the government would seek from Washington in return.
“Beijing appears willing to test the limits of the truce. It has deliberately kept licence approvals slow and selective,” said analysts from Capital Economics, pointing out the falling volume of Chinese shipments of rare earth metals to the US.
Ahead of the summit, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng met in New York on Sunday. The two spent a full-day session at JPMorgan Chase's headquarters, with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer also participating. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the two sides had agreed to set up a dialogue mechanism for AI and also discussed an extension of the trade truce.
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