Global supply chains are threatened by the lack of rare Chinese land

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China has begun to allow some rare land charges under the rules of new export control, but the slow pace of approvals threatens to disrupt global supply chains, according to industry participants.

Beijing in early April was placed Export restrictions on seven rare and permanent ground elements Which is vital for products ranging from electric cars to wind turbines, human robots and combat aircraft.

Sources, industry groups based in China and supply chain experts said that after weeks of delay, the Beijing Ministry of Commerce agreed to some licenses for exports to Europe, but at a very slow pace to meet the demand.

“The window that avoids great damage to production in Europe is closed quickly,” said Wolfgang Nedermark, a member of the Executive Board of the German Industries Federation, known as BDI.

American manufacturers, including Tesla, Ford and Lucheid Martin, have expressed concern about the new Chinese export controls in recent investors.

One of the European industry executives in China, who asked not to be named, said the current delays “cannot be defended” for foreign manufacturers.

“What I witness on the ground is that there is really inefficiency; they have reduced the importance of influence and what you will need to prepare at the level of work.”

China expanded it Controls on rare land exports It was a response to the sweeping definitions announced by US President Donald Trump on April 2.

The controls, which require exporters to obtain licenses from the Ministry of Commerce officials on rare target land shipments and the permanent magnets made of them, highlighted the geopolitical lever granted by China’s dominance of global metal supplies.

It is unclear whether China has begun to agree to exports to the United States since the great economic powers He agreed to a ceasefire on the tariff warfare This month.

Yantai Zhenghai Magnetic Mateial, a source in the East Shandong County, said it had received export licenses and took “appeal” orders from some customers.

Separately, two people are familiar with the situation that at least one charge was approved for the German Volkswagen industry operations.

Volkswagen said that the supplies of the parts containing rare land were stable, and that its suppliers had been granted “a limited number of licenses of this (export).”

The China Ministry of Commerce did not respond to the request for suspension.

There are large -scale fears in the industry that the license bureaucracy in China will be overwhelmed by the number of applications.

European CEO said that European companies are “not sure about how to prove” their shipments will not be re -exported to the United States, which will come out of the license conditions.

Elon Musk, the head of Tesla, told investors last month that China has sought assurances that the rare land magnet that his company needs for robot weapons would not be used for military purposes. “This is an example of the challenge there. I am sure that we will overcome these issues,” he said.

Rajesh Jiguricar, CEO of Indian blocs, Mahindra and Mehindra, said that the process of obtaining a final use-aims to guarantee unused supplies in weapons-“is currently unclear.”

A director of the army’s Chengdu Galaxy Magnets, who sells a permanent magnet, said that the suspension of army charges was a source of concern for the Chinese authorities. She said that her company helps customers to provide data to the authorities to agree to export, but it was not allowed to “army”.

“It may still be allowed to export with non -military applications,” she said.

Permanent magnets are used in combat aircraft such as Lockheed F-35, and new controls are expected to cause short-term problems and forced long-term supply chain shifts.

Evan Scott, financial manager at Lockheed, told investors this week that the company has enough rare ground materials for this year and expected that the US authorities will give priority to supply Lockheed “given the importance of our programs.”

Cameron Johnson, an expert in the manufacturing series and the supply chain in Tidalwave Solutions in Shanghai, said that some large long -term companies with China have been allowed to reach the rare land of the country before adopting their licensing requests. “There are still materials for graduation.”

“There is definitely no evidence” that China “cut off everyone frankly,” said Kuri Comes, assistant director of advisory consulting at Beijing, China, China.

Looking at the 90 -day temporary ceasefire between China, Combs said it is expected to give the Ministry of Commerce more approvals, but it warned against remaining uncertainty. “Everyone wants to provide MFCOM clarity. But the Chinese strategic lever is partially dependent on the ability to withdraw the export control arm to the extent that the United States does not provide a satisfactory deal.”

Experts said that the latest rare land controls will add a power force to Western efforts to reduce its dependence on China.