China is rolling back rare earth mineral restrictions, White House says | TechCrunch

The White House released more details Saturday about a trade deal reached between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in a meeting earlier this week.

Among other things, the White House said China will suspend the restrictions on exporting rare earth minerals that it announced in October, and it will resume issuing “general licenses valid for exports of rare earths, gallium, germanium, antimony, and graphite for the benefit of U.S. end users and their suppliers around the world.”

The Trump administration says that this will effectively reverse restrictions on rare earth minerals that China had imposed in April 2025 and October 2022.

China is the world’s largest producer of rare earth minerals, which are necessary for the production of a variety of tech products. When the Chinese government announced its most recent restrictions — which would have required foreign companies to apply for a license to export even a small amount of those minerals — the Trump administration fired back by threatening an additional 100% in tariffs. 

The White House now says it’s halting plans for those 100% tariffs and pausing other tariffs on Chinese goods for one year.