U.S. and China national flags adorn motorcades in Beijing, China.
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China on Sunday defended its new export controls on rare earths as a “legitimate” measure under international law, pushing back against U.S. accusations of economic coercion after Washington announced sweeping retaliatory tariffs and export restrictions.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said the controls, issued Oct. 9, were part of Beijing’s effort to strengthen its export control system and “better safeguard world peace and regional stability” amid what it described as a turbulent global security environment.
The measures, which now cover not only rare earth materials but also related intellectual property and technologies, were announced just weeks before a potential meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
“These controls do not constitute export bans. Applications that meet the requirements will be approved,” a commerce ministry spokesperson said. “China has fully assessed the potential impact of these measures on the supply chain and is confident that the impact will be very limited.”
The ministry said it had notified “relevant countries and regions” through bilateral dialogue mechanisms before unveiling the measures, adding that China remains open to further cooperation on export control practices to “safeguard the security and stability of global industrial and supply chains.”
China’s announcement on Oct. 9 also required foreign entities to obtain a license from Beijing to export any products containing over 0.1% of domestically-sourced rare earths, or manufactured using China’s extraction, refining, magnet-making or recycling technology.
Applications for items that could be used in weaponry, terrorism or other military purposes will also be rejected.
The move triggered an immediate response from Washington. On Oct. 10, Trump announced new tariffs of 100% on imports from China “over and above any Tariff that they are currently paying,” starting on Nov. 1. Trump also said that the U.S., on that same date, would also impose export controls on “any and all critical software.”
In response, the Chinese Commerce Ministry accused the U.S. of “double standards.”
“For a long time, the U.S. has generalized national security, abused export controls,” China’s commerce ministry said, pointing out that the U.S. control list covers more than 3,000 items, compared with under 1,000 on China’s list.
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