What are rare earths, and why do China's export limits matter?
Rare earths are not rare in the ground, but around 90% of their processing was done in one country as of 2025.
Rare earths are 17 metals, the 15 along with scandium and yttrium, that go into the magnets, lasers, glass and electronics that modern machines rely on. Rare earth metals are used to make powerful , praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium magnets, defense products and many electronics, and the global move towards electric vehicles, wind turbines and smartphones has increased demand for them. Their name is misleading: the elements are not actually scarce, but they are found only in compounds and are difficult to isolate and purify.
China's export limits matter because of where the hard work happens. As of 2025, China was digging up 70 percent of the global supply of rare earths and processing around 90 percent, nearly all of Myanmar's and Australia's ore and almost half of American production. That means a change in Chinese export rules can reach factories far away.
China's share of global rare-earth supply, as of 2025
| China | |
|---|---|
| Mining | 70% |
| Processing | 90% |
There is a history. China was accused of unofficially banning rare earth exports to Japan after a 2010 boat collision, though it denies such reports. The US, EU and Japan argued that China's later restrictions violated rules, while China said the restrictions were aimed at resource conservation and environmental protection. In 2014 the WTO ruled against China, which dropped its export quotas in 2015.
The 2025 episode is the latest chapter. China placed export restrictions on rare earth elements on 4 April 2025 as part of its response to US tariffs, and on 9 October 2025 it unveiled sweeping new controls. After a meeting in Busan on 30 October 2025, China agreed to suspend a planned expansion of the controls for a year as part of a broad trade deal.
Try it
How much of a country's imports are at risk?
y = 0.8x + 0
Challenge · Set 0.7 (the US, 2020 to 2023) and a 50% cut in China's exports; then set 0.98 (Europe, 2023) and compare.
Quiz me
0/3
Recap
Rare earths are common in the ground but hard to process, and the processing is concentrated in one country.
💡 A trick to remember it · Common rocks, rare skill: the shortage is in the refining, not in the ground.
Surprising fact · Rare earths are not rare: cerium is more abundant in the Earth's crust than copper.
Sources (4)
No source, no claim. Every fact in this lesson (17 claims) cites at least one of these.