China's grip on rare-earth magnets frames US trade talks
JL Mag Rare Earth plans up to 20,000 tons of extra annual capacity by 2028 as Washington presses for supply
Published
China accounted for about 94% of global rare-earth permanent magnet manufacturing in 2024. JL Mag Rare Earth, one of the country's largest producers, plans to add up to 20,000 tons of annual capacity by 2028. U.S. efforts to build domestic alternatives face scale and cost challenges that have kept rare earths at the center of trade talks between Washington and Beijing.
US trade representative Greer says there is no broad China deal in place, but rare earths are flowing into the United States, though not in the volumes Washington wants. Talks on a separate order for 200 Boeing planes to China are advancing alongside the wider trade discussions, Greer says.
The United States has floated a six-month extension of the tariff truce with China, while Beijing is pushing for a longer one, the New York Times reports. Trump is expected to decide this week on a US-China deal covering artificial intelligence, with Treasury-level trade talks underway and a Trump-Xi summit planned.
China's dominance in magnet production, paired with the limited scale of U.S. alternatives, keeps rare earths a durable point of leverage in the negotiations. Greer's comment that supplies are "coming in" points to some movement, but the gap between Chinese output and American capacity means the structural advantage still sits with Beijing as the talks continue.