China’s rare earth magnet exports to U.S. surge 660% after June trade deal breakthrough | investingLive

China’s exports of rare earth magnets to the U.S. surged in June, jumping over 660% from the previous month to 353 metric tons, according to Chinese customs data published Sunday.

• The spike follows trade agreements reached in June aimed at easing restrictions on rare earth shipments to the U.S., which are critical for electric vehicles and wind turbines.
• As part of the broader deal, Nvidia also plans to resume sales of its H20 AI chips to China.

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As background to this, in response to U.S. tariffs, China added several rare earth products to its export restriction list in April, leading to a sharp drop in shipments in April and May as exporters faced delays obtaining licences. The disruption caused global supply chain issues, with some automakers outside China forced to scale back production due to a shortage of rare earth magnets.

While China’s global exports of rare earth magnets rebounded sharply in June to 3,188 tons — up 157.5% from May — volumes remained 38% lower than June 2024. China supplies over 90% of the world’s rare earth magnets, making its policy decisions critical to global industries like EVs and wind energy.