U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent shakes hands with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng during the bilateral meeting between the U.S. and China, in Geneva, Switzerland, on May 11, 2025.
Keystone/eda/martial Trezzini | Via Reuters
China has temporarily paused export restrictions targeting 28 American companies on the heels of the trade truce Beijing reached with the Trump administration over the weekend in Switzerland.
But China is continuing to block exports from that country of seven rare earth metals to the United States, whose defense, energy and automotive industries rely on those metals.
According to the Geneva trade statement, China has agreed to “adopt all necessary administrative measures to suspend or remove the non-tariff countermeasures taken against the United States since April 2, 2025.”
One of those countermeasures is the rare earths export curbs.
When asked about the rare earths controls during a regular press conference Thursday, China’s Ministry of Commerce spokesperson said it did not have any information to provide.
On April 4, China announced a package of retaliatory measures against President Donald Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs, including placing the export restrictions on seven rare earth metals: Samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium.
It is unclear why the rare earths controls were not included when the Chinese Commerce Ministry announced easing of other nontariff countermeasures from April.
On Wednesday, China removed 28 American companies from its export control list for dual-use items for 90 days. It also took 17 companies off its “unreliable entity list” including 11 for 90 days.
On the same day, the Commerce Ministry issued a statement on China’s efforts to clampdown on smuggling of rare earths and the need for broader government control of the metals for national security.
“All departments agree that comprehensive control of strategic minerals is essential,” it reads.
The vast majority of the rare earth elements, or REEs, imported to the United States come from China. They are viewed by Beijing as an effective leverage point in its trade negotiations with Washington.
A social media account linked to the national broadcaster CCTV has been hinting of their importance around the trade talks.
“With U.S. defense industries now ‘strangled by rare earth shortages’, what changes might occur in American weapons and equipment?” Yuyuantantian posted last Friday.
Many of the 28 American companies given a reprieve on dual-use export restrictions are common targets for sanctions by Beijing, because of their activity in the defense sector.
The first 16 of these companies were added to the Chinese export control list on April 4, days after Trump’s announcement imposing steep tariffs on most products from China.
Those companies include Universal Logistics Holdings, Cyberlux, Hudson Technologies and Oceaneering International.
Beijing added a dozen more companies to the export control list on April 9, the same day that Trump announced a three-month pause on tariffs for every country except China. The companies hit that day include Teledyne Brown Engineering, Kratos Unmanned Aerial Systems and Insitu.
Any company that wants to export dual-use items from China needs first to get approval from the country’s Commerce Ministry.
The 17 companies on the “unreliable entity list” are prohibited from importing to, or exporting from, China and from making new investments in the country.
The companies given a reprieve from this list include several drone manufacturers such as Sierra Nevada Corp. and Kratos.
China added 11 of those companies to the list on April 4, and another six on April 9.