This is a more than welcome measure for the industry. The European Union’s trade commissioner said Friday that the one-year suspension of some Chinese restrictions on rare earths would also apply to the European Union, not just the United States.
Following trade negotiations between China and the United States, Beijing announced on Thursday that it would suspend for one year the restrictions imposed on October 9 on the export of rare earth technologies. Controls on rare earths, which were a major sticking point in trade talks between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, are disrupting markets and crippling supply chains.
A licensing system that doesn’t work
Maros Sefcovic, who met Italian Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, said the EU was currently holding “official high-level discussions on export controls” with China. “I will speak again very soon with my Chinese counterpart,” he assured.
China is the world’s leading producer of rare earths, metals with special properties essential for the digital, automotive, energy and weapons sectors. Since April, it has also required licenses for certain exports of these materials, but according to Maros Sefcovic this system does not work.
“This has direct repercussions on the production capacities of EU companies,” he stressed.
Source: BFM TV
