Posted on 06/27/2025 2:02:01 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
Companies
BERLIN/BEIJING, June 27 (Reuters) - The threat of mass shutdowns across the automotive supply chain is fading as Chinese rare earth magnets begin to flow, though automakers and suppliers say production plans still face uncertainties and a continued risk of shortages.
European suppliers have received enough licences to avoid the widespread disruptions predicted earlier this month but hundreds of permits remain pending, said Nils Poel, head of market affairs at supplier association CLEPA.
The rate of issuance is "accelerating" and has risen to 60% from 25%, he said, but cases where the end users are based in the United States, or where products move through third countries like India, are taking longer or not being prioritised.
"Overall the feeling is that we probably will still have production in July and that the impact will be manageable," he said.
"Maybe here and there a production line will be affected, but we have avoided that for the moment."
Volkswagen (VOWG.DE), opens new tab
said in a statement to Reuters its supply of rare earth components was stable while rival Stellantis (STLAM.MI), opens new tab
said it had addressed its immediate production concerns.
China restricted exports of seven rare earths and related magnets in April in retaliation for U.S. tariffs.
Three months later there remains huge uncertainty about how it intends to police its opaque and complex export licensing system.
Since the restrictions were imposed, rare earth magnet exports from China have fallen roughly 75%, forcing some automaker production lines to halt in Asia, Europe and the United States.
The White House said on Thursday it had signed a deal with China to speed up rare earth approvals without providing details. Beijing said hours later both parties had confirmed details...
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
I’m pretty sure I just recently read that the US has they minerals. Why are they not being mined?
Refining rare earth elements creates lots of chemical waste. China enforces no environmental laws, so they can refine them, but it would be prohibitively expensive to deal with the toxic waste byproducts due to our environmental laws.
Okay.
Well then, our “environmental” laws have to go.
Well, “something” has to go in the automotive industry. We used to build about the best cars there were, but they are more “modern” now and in many saes a lot of this is unnecessary gadgetry. With excessive prices. A lot of people have a lot of ideas about what is “necessary” equipment.
“Rare earth” minerals are not rare. We have deposit here in our country but mining them create some difficulties Regardless we should not depend on a potential enemy for our supply and we should begin mining and processing them here.
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