China still slow to approve some rare earths exports to US, official says

Rare earth exports from China to the United States are improving although Beijing is still slow to approve some shipments, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Thursday.

China still drags its feet with some export licenses, he said during an interview on Bloomberg Television, and U.S. officials have to intervene on behalf of affected companies.

"I would give them a passing grade on this," he said.

"We've certainly seen the rare earths come back up to better levels. Sometimes it's slow. There are times when we have to go and make our point."

China's rare earth export controls - introduced in April 2025 in retaliation for U.S. President Donald Trump's Liberation Day tariffs - continue to tightly restrict exports of some rare earths despite a deal last October in which the White House says China agreed to allow shipments to freely flow.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Beijing has repeatedly defended its April 2025 export controls and says it approves eligible requests.

Greer is in China with Trump's delegation for the summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Greer said the U.S. recently received several big shipments of yttrium, a rare earth only produced in China that has been in short supply for more than a year, causing shortages in the U.S. semiconductor and aerospace industries.

"Whenever we see an issue, we hear from specific companies, we engage with our Chinese counterparts and we find them to be constructive," Greer said.

Reuters reported in April that China had approved several large exports of yttrium, although there remains a large deficit relative to earlier export figures.

-Reporting by Lewis Jackson and Liz Lee in Beijing; Editing by Tom Hogue/Reuters