Global Alarm Rises As China's Mineral Export Curbs Take Hold

Alarm over China's stranglehold on critical minerals grew on Tuesday as global automakers joined their US counterparts to complain that restrictions by China on exports of rare earth alloys, mixtures and magnets could cause production delays and outages without a quick solution.

- AGENCIES

German automakers became the latest to warn that China's export restrictions threaten to shut down production and rattle their local economies, following a similar complaint from an Indian EV maker last week.

Some European auto parts plants have suspended output and Mercedes-Benz is considering ways to protect against shortages of rare earths.

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.