Sovereignty incidents — manufacturing & critical materials
China rare-earth export controls (9 October → 9 November 2025 pause)
Claim
China’s Commerce Ministry (MOFCOM) announcements Nos. 55–58, 61 and 62 (9 October 2025) sharply widened China’s controls on exporting rare-earth metals. After the Trump–Xi meeting in Busan, MOFCOM announcements Nos. 70 and 72 (7–9 November 2025) put those controls on hold until 10 November 2026. China refines roughly 89% of the world’s rare earths and controls almost the entire supply chain for high-performance rare-earth magnets. The earlier licensing rules of 4 April 2025, covering seven heavy rare-earth elements (scandium, yttrium, samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium), stay in force. In November 2025, EU Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné announced plans for an EU critical-minerals centre to buy and stockpile these materials jointly.
Sources
- Dorcas Wong and Qian Zhou, “China’s Rare Earth Export Controls — Impact on Businesses and Industries,” China Briefing, 12 November 2025 ↗
- Clark Hill PLC, “China Hits Pause on Rare-Earth Export Controls” ↗
- European Parliament Research Service, “China’s rare-earth export restrictions,” November 2025 ↗
Referenced in
- Framework §2
- AI-SAF-N Manufacturing pillar
- Refining §3.5