China escalated its long-running trade dispute with the United States on Monday, adding 10 American companies — among them two firms central to Washington's effort to build a domestic rare-earth industry — to its export-control list, according to a notice from China's Ministry of Commerce reported by Al Jazeera and Reuters.
The move targets companies including rare-earth miner MP Materials and magnet maker USA Rare Earth, alongside US defence suppliers, reporting indicated. Beijing framed the step as retaliation for an earlier US action, deepening a standoff over materials that power both consumer electronics and advanced weaponry.
What the new controls do
Under the listing, Chinese exporters are barred from supplying "dual-use" items — goods with both civilian and military applications — to the named firms, and ongoing transactions of that kind must be suspended, according to Al Jazeera. Exporters may apply to the ministry for approval in cases of "genuine necessity," the notice said.
That is a tighter regime than the prior framework, which generally allowed exports to proceed under a licensing requirement. Rare earths are a group of 17 metallic elements whose magnets are essential to electric-vehicle motors, missiles, radar and other high-performance hardware. China dominates their mining and, especially, their processing — leverage Beijing has increasingly deployed in its dealings with Washington.
Beijing's rationale
China's commerce ministry said the measures were taken to "safeguard national security and interests" and to fulfil "international obligations such as non-proliferation," according to Al Jazeera. Beijing pointed to a US action earlier in the month: Washington had released a blacklist of roughly 80 companies and their subsidiaries it said were aiding the Chinese military, spanning artificial intelligence, electric vehicles and robotics, CNBC reported.
How US firms are affected
Analysts described the immediate commercial impact as limited, in part because the targeted US producers have largely already cut their reliance on Chinese equipment and materials. Both MP Materials and USA Rare Earth are pillars of a US push to onshore rare-earth supply chains, and by naming them, Beijing appeared to be signalling the reach of its influence as much as inflicting near-term damage.
A fragile truce
The action lands against the backdrop of a trade truce reached late last year. After Beijing announced a sweeping expansion of rare-earth controls in October 2025 — including provisions covering products made abroad with Chinese-origin materials — the two sides negotiated a one-year suspension of the strictest measures. That pause remains in place, but US buyers have continued to report friction. The latest listing does not by itself unwind the truce, but it signals how readily critical minerals can become a pressure point in a relationship that remains tense on multiple fronts.
