China's rare earth magnets start flowing more freely into U.S. after widespread panic

Rare earth permanent magnets come in several shapes. Image credit: Benchmark Mineral Intelligence

Rare Earths

China’s rare earth magnets start flowing more freely into U.S. after widespread panic

Imports entering the country rose by 660% in June, according to Chinese officials

Rowan Dunne

Published

10 hours ago

China has loosened its grip on rare earth magnets immensely for the Americans after considerable trade tensions between the two nations.

This week, the Chinese General Administration of Customs reported a a 660 per cent spike in outbound shipments to the United States throughout June. The quantity leaving the country in May was minuscule in comparison to the 353 metric tons sent last month.

Furthermore, the amount of rare earth magnets making their way out of China to global buyers rose immensely throughout the sixth month of the year as well. More than 3,180 tons of permanent magnets were shipped to various nations during the 30-day period, marking a 157.5 per cent sequential rise. Germany is customer number two behind Uncle Sam.

The development follows China implementing strict export controls on magnets and heavy rare earth elements in April in response to American tariffs.

Donald Trump’s efforts to resolve the situation have paid off, according to the data. The American leader and a team of diplomats held talks with a Chinese delegation in London in early June. As part of this deal, NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA) (ETR: NVD) has agreed to resume shipments of its H20 AI chips to Beijing. This was formally revealed last week.

“RELATIONSHIP IS EXCELLENT,” Trump said on social media on Jun. 11.

U.S. companies that produce wind turbines, electric vehicles, electronics, medical equipment, military tech and other goods requiring the products will be able to start breathing easier if tensions continue to relax.

So will European automotive companies and others hit hardest by China’s recent measures. Notably, the shortage has been taking its toll on Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) (ETR: TL0) and Elon Musk’s Optimus robots.

Despite the improved flow from China, the U.S. government recently decided to largely nationalize its main producer of rare earths for national security purposes. The Department of Defense became the largest shareholder of MP Materials (NYSE: MP) earlier this month with a US$400-billion-dollar investment.