Supply chains, rare earths, and tariffs: Trade conflict between China and the USA

Double Trouble China Controls and Trump Announcements Keep the World on Edge

2025-07-10 Source: dpa | Translated by AI 1 min Reading Time

The supply chains are strained. Since April, China has controlled the export of rare earths, leading to higher costs, and Donald Trump says nothing about the deadline extension regarding tariffs ...

China's controls on rare earth exports have caused prices to skyrocket. The price increase is hitting the element terbium the hardest, with around 19 percent. And as if that weren't bad enough, further back-and-forth antics from Donald Trump are causing concern.(Image: Minecrafter) — China's controls on rare earth exports have caused prices to skyrocket. The price increase is hitting the element terbium the hardest, with around 19 percent. And as if that weren't bad enough, further back-and-forth antics from Donald Trump are causing concern.
(Image: Minecrafter)

The rare earths, essential for the energy and mobility transition, have become significantly more expensive following the tightening of Chinese export restrictions, according to reports. Prices for all elements grouped under this umbrella term rose in May (in dollar terms) by around eight percent, according to the Bavarian Business Association (VBW, located in Germany). Terbium became nearly 19 percent more expensive, gadolinium nearly 17 percent, and samarium over 15 percent, according to the analysis. This development is partly attributed to the trade conflict between the U.S. and China. The Chinese Communist Party imposed the controls as retaliation for the punitive tariffs announced by U.S. President Donald Trump. In the People's Republic, an estimated 90 percent of the world's rare earths needed for industrial use are processed. European economic experts have long warned about this kind of monopoly.

Donald Trump Unsettles Countries with Tariff Announcements

And U.S. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, leaves open the possibility of another postponement of the deadline for imposing tariffs on several countries, including the EU. When asked whether the August 1 deadline was binding, he essentially replied with a "binding maybe." However, he appeared open to accepting acceptable proposals from trade partners. Regarding letters sent to various countries in which Trump announced different tariff rates, he stated that the import surcharges are final but also signaled a willingness to negotiate if the offers meet his approval. Recently, Trump extended the deadline for new tariffs from July 9 to August 1 and published more than a dozen letters to several countries, including Japan, South Korea, and South Africa. In the letters, he announced varying levels of import surcharges starting in August. What this new deadline means for the EU cannot be determined.

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