Germany has expressed “great concern” over China’s new restrictions on critical mineral exports, particularly rare earths essential to the tech industry. In response, Berlin is urging reduced reliance on non-European suppliers and is working with the EU on a coordinated strategy. The German Economy Ministry said it’s too early to gauge the full impact of China’s latest curbs, but confirmed active discussions are underway with affected companies and European partners. The move comes amid escalating US-China trade tensions, with Germany aiming to shift more raw material processing and extraction back to Europe. They write:
Germany said China’s increasing restrictions of exports on minerals critical to the technology industry are of “great concern” and the country must reduce its dependence on supplies from outside of the European economic area.
While it’s too soon to assess the impact of China’s latest curbs, “the issue is now being discussed intensively at both national and EU level,” a spokeswoman for the Economy Ministry said in an emailed response to Bloomberg’s questions. […]
The German economy ministry is in close contact with the companies affected, and is speaking to the European Commission and other European partners, it said. “The aim is to achieve a coordinated European approach,” the spokeswoman said in the statement. The German government’s goal is to increasingly relocate steps in raw material extraction and processing back to the European economic area, she said.
Read more here.
