China’s rare earth export curbs hit global auto industry

Some European auto parts plants have suspended output and Mercedes-Benz is considering ways to protect against shortages of rare earths, as concerns about the damage from China’s restrictions on critical mineral exports deepen across the globe. China’s decision in April to suspend exports of a wide range of rare earths and related magnets has upended the supply chains central to automakers, aerospace manufacturers, semiconductor companies and military contractors around the world. China’s dominance of the critical mineral industry, key to the green energy transition, is increasingly viewed as a key point of leverage for Beijing in its trade war with US President Donald Trump. China produces around 90 per cent of the world’s rare earths, and auto industry representatives have warned of increasing threats to production due to their dependency on it for those parts.