Overview
- China’s Ministry of Commerce said exports of items with potential military applications to Japan will be halted immediately, with rare-earth magnets singled out as the most exposed products.
- The curbs hit materials such as neodymium and praseodymium magnets, often enhanced with samarium, dysprosium and terbium for heat resistance and performance.
- Japan has diversified supplies and built stockpiles since a 2010 dispute, yet it still relies on China for roughly 70% of its rare-earth inputs, according to a government raw-materials agency cited in the coverage.
- Recent licensing slowdowns in China left only about a quarter of European manufacturers’ export requests processed, prompting production stoppages and forcing Indian firms to draw down inventories.
- Analyses note China’s leverage stems from decades of subsidies and environmental tradeoffs that concentrated processing capacity, with current licensing and end‑use declarations doubling as supply chokepoints and intelligence collection.