Following some uncertainty in the exports of rare earth minerals from China to the United States, Reuters reports that China has issued temporary export licenses to rare earth suppliers for GM, Ford, and Stellantis. The sources say some of the licenses are valid for six months, buying some time to continue EV production somewhat normally until a more formal trade deal is agreed upon by the two countries.
GM and Ford each declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. Stellantis said it is working with suppliers “to ensure an efficient licensing process” and that the automaker has been able to “address immediate production concerns without major disruptions.”
President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke on Thursday about trade. Trump said on social media that “there should no longer be any questions respecting the complexity of Rare Earth products.”
We reported last week on the threat to auto production posed by Chinese restrictions on rare-earth magnet exports, which were implemented in April, shortly after “Liberation Day” when sweeping reciprocal tariffs were announced at the White House. China, which controls over 90 percent of the global processing capacity for magnets, was imposing export restrictions that appear to be slowly relaxing.
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents many of the world’s biggest car companies including GM, Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai, and others, wrote a letter to the Trump administration, warning the White House of the impact of lack of access to these crucial Chinese exports. This letter may have been part of the motivation for last week’s phonecall between Trump and Xi.
A big part of the slowdown in Chinese exports was an opaque opaque application process, sometimes involving hundreds of pages of documents. According to a spokesman from German parts supplier Bosch the process is “complex and time-consuming, partly due to the need to collect and provide a lot of information.”
Much of the battery production for GM EVs sold in North America happens domestically at the Ultium Cells plants in Ohio and Tennessee. However, many of the raw materials for those batteries come from China. For the time being, it appears that GM EV production will continue more or less undisrupted by global trade conflicts.
Comments
Enjoying the coercion from an authoritarian power yet? Don’t worry. There will be plenty more where that came from come open season for Taiwan and anyone dares decide to condemn the hunter or if they simply want to cripple any economy on a whim just because. Just ask Germany how they enjoyed Russia cutting off their gas in the middle of winter.
There was a time where we as Americans regardless of side of the aisle would never stand for this. A time where we knew we had something precious to protect. Our freedoms and security for our families. But I guess we have come to an era where we decided our freedoms and security are granted to us so we can afford to lose the race and became quitters.
But hey. Don’t take my word for it. Their own actions are speaking for themselves. But keep on looking the other way and keep on the defeatist attitude of “we can’t do it ourselves”, then don’t complain about their actions or anything they do going forward. So unless we come to grips with this reality of the need to curb our dependence on them we are choosing our dark fate.
Completely irrelevant word salad above. The world is inexorably moving towards full interdependence. Good luck stopping that. We must get along and go along with all nations, hopefully getting the best for our people.
Except that nation isn’t interested in getting along with others unless they are Russia, North Korea, Iran, or other hostile authoritarian governments. They are interested in power and control over the world supply chains and nothing else. Or did you not see the news of the two Chinese nationals researchers in Michigan the FBI caught smuggling in a fungus that can poison our food supply? The guy literally admitted to being a member of the communist party. Did you also not see their announcement on Telegram that they are ready for war with the US? I don’t know about you but that doesn’t sound like someone interested in getting along.
You can keep living with your head buried in the ground until their actions affect one of your loved ones. Meantime, you can just go back to sleep. You will be one of the many that choose the dystopian future we are heading.
The voters in the U.S. have already chosen their dystopian future.
Atleast we are able to choose. Can’t say the same about China or Russia.
As long as nobody is surprised by the outcome 3.5 years from now.
Nobody should be surprised by the outcome of having an authoritarian nation controlling your democratic one either. Remember. All you downvoters rooted for it. Lucky for me, my folks lived through a country like that to take our freedoms for granted and that is a world I do not wish to know. But as the saying goes, “be careful what you wish for.”
Enjoy that perk of poking fun at a leader. You may not have it in the not so distant future anymore because freedom of speech doesn’t come free and Ch!n@ can dictate your economy. But remember. YOU chose that future.
Kinda similar to the last 4 years under the living dead and the creature.
I’d also like to hear you tell this to the people of Ukraine that a country sending weapons and troops to Russia wants to get along with them.
Dig, baby, dig!