The new rare earth Cold War: China’s trump card in US tariff poker?

THE autumn of 2025 marked a turning point in US-China relations. On Thursday (Oct 9), China’s Ministry of Commerce announced sweeping export restrictions on rare earth elements (REEs), magnets and related technologies vital to electric vehicles, semiconductors and defence systems. 

The new rules – to be implemented in phases on Nov 8 and Dec 1 – apply not only to materials mined in China, but also to foreign-made products containing more than 0.1 per cent Chinese-origin REEs or manufactured using Chinese technology.

US President Donald Trump condemned the move as “economic aggression”, threatening 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese imports from Nov 1 and new export bans on “critical software”. Beijing, on its part, framed the policy as a step towards “responsible and secure trade”. These duelling measures signal a new phase of economic warfare, in which the battleground is not tariffs but technological and material interdependence.