US officials condemn China's expanded rare earth export controls

Top U.S. trade and Treasury officials on Wednesday condemned Beijing’s recent expansion of export controls on rare earth minerals as a threat to global supply chains, while Chinese officials defended the measures as targeted, lawful steps and said civilian exports would still be approved. The dispute has raised the prospect of renewed trade escalation just weeks before a planned meeting between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping in South Korea.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer called the new rules a “global supply chain power grab” and said China could still reverse course because the revised regulatory system had not yet been implemented. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described Beijing’s move as a provocation and said Washington was consulting allied partners on a coordinated response. President Trump has threatened to impose a 100 percent tariff on Chinese imports and to tighten export controls on critical software if China proceeds.

Beijing’s measures, announced last week, expand controls beyond raw minerals to include additional heavy rare earth elements, certain downstream materials and, in later stages, some processing equipment and chemicals....