China defends rare earth export curbs; threatens 'resolute measures' if US clamps 100% tariffs

Beijing | China on Sunday defended its latest export control measures on rare earths and related items as a legitimate action to safeguard global peace, warning the US of “resolute measures” if President Donald Trump proceeds with his threat to impose 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese exports.

China on Thursday announced new restrictions on the export of technologies and equipment related to the mining and processing of rare earths, lithium batteries, and rare earth-based superhard materials.

The controls, which took effect immediately, also cover overseas transfers of production technologies.

Beijing said the decision followed concerns that some foreign companies were using Chinese-sourced materials for military purposes.

Reacting to China’s move, US President Trump threatened to impose a 100 per cent tariff on Chinese goods from November 1 and hinted at curbing exports of “any and all critical software”, reigniting the trade war between the world's two largest economies.

Responding to a question on Trump's threat, the Chinese Commerce Ministry in a statement on Sunday accused the US of overstretching the concept of national security and abusing export control measures against China, including in the semiconductor and chip sectors.

"Willful threats of high tariffs are not the right way to get along with China. China's position on the trade war is consistent: we do not want it, but we are not afraid of it," the statement said.

It urged the US to "promptly correct its wrong practices", "adhere to the important consensus" reached during phone calls between the two heads of state, "protect the hard-won outcomes of consultations", while resolving trade differences through dialogues and "mutual respect and equal-footed consultation”.

"If the United States insists on going the wrong way, China will surely take resolute measures to protect its legitimate rights and interests," the statement said.

As a responsible major country, China employs export controls on related items according to the law, in order to better defend world peace and regional stability, and to fulfil non-proliferation and other international obligations, it said.

The statement clarified that China’s export controls “are not export bans” and that licenses will be issued for eligible applications, including exports for humanitarian purposes such as disaster relief and medical assistance.

China, which accounts for about 70 per cent of global rare earth mining and nearly 90 per cent of their processing, is the world's dominant supplier of the minerals critical for manufacturing electronics, automobiles, wind energy, and defence equipment.

The US, the EU and India are the top importers of China’s rare earth metals.

The commerce ministry said before the measures were announced, China had already notified relevant countries and regions through bilateral export control dialogue mechanisms.

China stands ready to work with the rest of the world to step up export control dialogue and exchange, so as to better safeguard the security and stability of global industrial and supply, it said.

Since the China-US economic and trade talks in Madrid in September, the US has introduced a string of new restrictive measures targeting Beijing within just 20 days, the statement noted.

It stressed that these actions have severely harmed Chinese interests and undermined the atmosphere of bilateral economic and trade talks, and China is resolutely opposed to them.

Trump, who had earlier imposed 145 per cent tariffs against Chinese exports, later settled for an interim trade deal after China stopped the rare-earths exports, linking them to lifting of curbs on semiconductor chips by the US.

Rare earths are a key component of current trade talks between the US and China.

China's new curbs on rare earths come ahead of a planned meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea later this month.