{"id":41407,"date":"2025-04-17T19:40:30","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T14:10:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=41407"},"modified":"2025-06-26T16:31:02","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T11:01:02","slug":"china-restricts-exports-of-rare-earths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/17-04-2025\/china-restricts-exports-of-rare-earths","title":{"rendered":"China Restricts Exports of Rare Earths"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus :GS 3\/Economy&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>In News<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Recently, China announced restrictions on the export of seven<strong> <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/editorial-analysis\/23-01-2025\/critical-minerals\"><strong>Rare Earth Elements <\/strong><\/a>which includes samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium, and yttrium following U.S. President Trump\u2019s tariff impositions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/editorial-analysis\/23-01-2025\/critical-minerals\"><u>Rare Earth Elements (REEs)<\/u><\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>They are a set of <strong>17 chemical elements in the<\/strong><strong> periodic table<\/strong> \u2014 cerium (Ce), dysprosium (Dy), erbium (Er) etc. All have similar chemical properties and <strong>appear silver-coloured.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Despite their name, they are not as rare as they appear, but concentrated, economically mineable deposits are hard to find.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"e1c5c7\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"934\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/04\/china-a-leading-player-in-critical-minerals-1024x934.png\" alt=\"china a leading player in critical minerals\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-41441\" style=\"--dominant-color: #e1c5c7; width:482px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/04\/china-a-leading-player-in-critical-minerals-1024x934.png 1024w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/04\/china-a-leading-player-in-critical-minerals-300x274.png 300w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/04\/china-a-leading-player-in-critical-minerals-768x700.png 768w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/04\/china-a-leading-player-in-critical-minerals.png 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>China has dominated the<strong> <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/editorial-analysis\/23-01-2025\/critical-minerals\"><strong>rare earth<\/strong><\/a> market since the 1<strong>990s, supplying 85-95% of global demand.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Importance&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/editorial-analysis\/23-01-2025\/critical-minerals\"><strong>Rare Earth Elements (REEs)<\/strong><\/a> are crucial in various industries, including clean energy (electric vehicles and wind turbines), electronics (digital displays), and automobile manufacturing (magnets for power steering, windows, and speakers).&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They are also crucial for manufacturing high-tech products including defense.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Consequences of China\u2019s Export Restrictions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>China dominates<\/strong> the<strong> global supply of critical minerals<\/strong>, controlling vast reserves and processing capabilities, including 87% of rare earth processing and major shares in lithium, cobalt, and silicon refining.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The new controls are expected to<strong> disrupt industries globally reliant on rare earths<\/strong>, leading to <strong>higher prices and potential supply shortages.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>As supply tightens, the <strong>prices of REEs are expected to surge<\/strong> which could further raise the production cost &amp; overall prices.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>REEs are crucial for <strong>manufacturing advanced military technologies <\/strong>like fighter jets (e.g., F-35), submarines (e.g., Virginia and Columbia class), missiles (e.g., Tomahawk)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The mining process can also cause<strong> significant environmental damage<\/strong>, as it releases harmful substances like arsenic and cadmium.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Status in India&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India has significant reserves of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/13-06-2025\/india-rare-earth-magnets-crisis\">rare earth<\/a> elements in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha, and Kerala. The <strong>monazite sands<\/strong> in Kerala are <strong>particularly rich in <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/editorial-analysis\/23-01-2025\/critical-minerals\"><strong>REEs<\/strong><\/a><strong>.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>India faces acute vulnerability with <strong>over 40% dependency on China <\/strong>for six key <strong>minerals:<\/strong> bismuth (85.6%), lithium (82%), silicon (76%), titanium (50.6%), tellurium (48.8%), and graphite (42.4%).&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Despite having significant <strong>mineral resources<\/strong>, India lacks the technology to extract minerals like lithium from its own deposits.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#fff2cc\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Do you know ?<\/strong><br>&#8211; In 2023, India identified 30 critical minerals essential for its economic growth and national security, with a significant dependency on imports, especially from China.&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Conclusion and Way Forward&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>REEs\u2019 unique magnetic and optical properties make them indispensable in modern technology.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In this context, India is working to diversify its supply chain by investing in overseas assets, joining global initiatives like the<strong> Minerals Security Partnership, and promoting recycling and research.&nbsp;<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>However, reducing dependency on China will require long-term investment and sustained efforts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>There is a&nbsp; need to develop national policies and implementation strategies for ensuring indigenous supply of REEs.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source :IE<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>In News<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Recently, China announced restrictions on the export of seven Rare Earth Elements which includes samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium, and yttrium following U.S. President Trump\u2019s tariff impositions.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Rare Earth Elements (REEs)<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">They are a set of 17 chemical elements in the periodic table \u2014 cerium (Ce), dysprosium (Dy), erbium (Er) etc. All have similar chemical properties and appear silver-coloured.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Despite their name, they are not as rare as they appear, but concentrated, economically mineable deposits are hard to find.\u00a0<\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/17-04-2025\/china-restricts-exports-of-rare-earths\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41407"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41407\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46333,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41407\/revisions\/46333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}