The latest frictions began just a day after the May 12 announcement of the Geneva agreement to “pause” tariffs for 90 days.
“The Chinese side urges the U.S. side to immediately correct its erroneous practices,” a Commerce Ministry spokesperson said.
The Chinese government started requiring producers to obtain a license to export seven rare earth elements in April. Resulting shortages sent automakers worldwide into a tizzy. As stockpiles ran down, some worried they would have to halt production.
“The bad news is that China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US,” Trump posted on May 30.
The Chinese government indicated Saturday that it is addressing the concerns, which have come from European companies as well. A Commerce Ministry statement said it had granted some approvals and “will continue to strengthen the approval of applications that comply with regulations.”
The scramble to resolve the rare earth issue shows that China has a strong card to play if it wants to strike back against tariffs or other measures.
It replied that the U.S. had undermined the agreement by issuing export control guidelines for AI chips, stopping the sale of chip design software to China and saying it would revoke Chinese student visas.
“The United States has unilaterally provoked new economic and trade frictions,” the ministry said in a statement posted on its website.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a May 28 statement that the United States would “aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields.”
More than 270,000 Chinese students studied in the U.S. in the 2023-24 academic year.
