China will tighten reporting controls on strategic rare earth elements, according to its Commerce Ministry, in a move that could choke off America’s supply of critical minerals used in the production of electric cars and missiles.
The decision is being viewed as a message to Washington about Beijing’s potential to target specific industries as a response to the U.S.’s own restrictions on high-end semiconductors.
The decision also comes as Chinese leader Xi Jinping is slated to travel to San Francisco next week for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, where he is expected to meet President Joe Biden and attend a reception with U.S. corporate elites.
Rare earth elements are a group of 17 minerals that, although abundant, are challenging to extract and process for use in cutting-edge technologies, from new electric vehicles and solar panels to microchips used by the defense industry.
China is the biggest producer of rare earth elements, having mastered extraction and processing. The new reporting requirement was a common practice, its Commerce Ministry said of the policy move.
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