Hello, this is Ryuta Hamamoto from TIMEWELL.
China's rare earth export controls moved in rapid succession from Announcement No. 18 in April 2025 through Japan-focused dual-use measures in January 2026. The hard part for U.S. and global supply-chain teams is not the headlines—it is telling what is still licensed, what is suspended until November 10, 2026, and where extraterritorial rules would hit re-exports if they return.
This map is built from MOFCOM primary announcements. I treat it the same way I treat the U.S. EAR or Japan's FEFTA: as export control by a sovereign state, not as a morality play. Placement on a control list or under a licensing requirement is a regulatory classification, not a finding that any named company did something wrong.
Fill-in screening sheet: We publish the China-Related Transactions Export-Control Screening Sheet free of charge—a transaction-by-transaction worksheet covering critical minerals (including rare earths) and the four counterparty-list systems (Control List, Watch List, Unreliable Entity List, countermeasure list). A completed sheet can attach to an internal review or a customer explanation. → Download the screening sheet (Free. Company name and work email required.)
What You Will Learn
- The four-tier structure: Export Control Law → Dual-Use Regulations → Dual-Use List → MOFCOM announcements
- The seven permanently controlled elements still in force (Sm / Gd / Tb / Dy / Lu / Sc / Y)
- The five additional elements and related equipment/battery measures suspended until November 10, 2026
- Extraterritorial provisions (0.1% rule, 50% affiliate-style rule) and their current status
- A three-point impact check for global BOMs, and five practical steps for licensing and diversification
- How dual-use end-use bans (including Japan-focused Notice No. 1 of 2026) interact with the element list
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Three Terms Up Front
Dual-use items — Goods, technologies, and software usable for both civilian and military purposes. Semiconductor tools, chemicals, cryptography, and specialty materials sit in this category worldwide. China's rare earth measures are dual-use export controls, not a weapons embargo by another name.
Export licensing — A Chinese exporter applies to MOFCOM and obtains a license for each controlled export. Functionally parallel to EAR "License Required" and Japan's METI licensing. Types include individual, bundled, and general licenses.
Extraterritorial application (re-export-style controls) — Domestic law reaching transactions outside the issuing country. Structurally similar to U.S. de minimis and Foreign Direct Product rules. China's "0.1% rule" and "50% rule" in Announcement No. 61 fall here (currently suspended).
Big Picture: How China's Rare Earth Controls Stack
China's export controls form a four-tier pyramid. The bottom tier updates each time MOFCOM issues a new announcement.
[Top tier] Export Control Law (in force since December 2020)
licensing basis, extraterritorial reach, penalties
[Regulation] Regulations on Export Control of Dual-Use Items (in force since December 2024)
individual, bundled, and general licenses; end-use management; re-export
[List] Export Control List for Dual-Use Items (issued November 2024)
enumerates items subject to licensing
[Announcements] MOFCOM announcements (annual additions and amendments)
e.g., 2025 No. 18, No. 55–58, No. 61, No. 70, and 2026 No. 1
Functionally this matches the U.S. chain of ECRA → EAR → CCL → Federal Register notices, and Japan's FEFTA → Export Trade Control Order → ministerial ordinance → circulars. Items outside the list can still need a license if end use points to WMD or military purposes—catch-all logic shared with the U.S., Japan, and the EU.
Three license types
| Type | Description | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Individual license | One batch, one license | Standard cases |
| Bundled license | Multiple exports to the same counterparty over a set period | Counterparties with an established track record |
| General license | For highly reliable exporters, based on post-shipment management | Companies with advanced compliance certification |
In December 2025, MOFCOM announced it had granted its first general license to highly reliable exporters and counterparties (per media reports).
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The 7 Permanently Controlled Elements (Announcement No. 18 of 2025)
MOFCOM Announcement No. 18, dated April 4, 2025, added seven medium and heavy rare earth elements and related items (metals, alloys, oxides, compounds, mixtures, sputtering targets, and permanent magnet materials) to export licensing. This measure is not covered by the comprehensive suspension of November 2025, and it remained in force as of May 2026.
| Element | Symbol | Category | Main industrial uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Samarium | Sm | Medium REE | Samarium-cobalt magnets (heat-resistant motors, space and defense) |
| Gadolinium | Gd | Medium REE | MRI contrast agents, neutron absorbers in nuclear reactors |
| Terbium | Tb | Medium REE | High-temperature additive for NdFeB magnets, green phosphors |
| Dysprosium | Dy | Medium REE | Improving coercivity of NdFeB magnets (essential for EV motors) |
| Lutetium | Lu | Heavy REE | PET detectors, petroleum refining catalysts |
| Scandium | Sc | (Quasi-REE) | High-strength aluminum alloys (aircraft, 3D printing) |
| Yttrium | Y | Heavy REE | YAG lasers, phosphors, high-temperature superconductors |
Supplement: the 17 rare earth elements and the "medium and heavy" group
Rare earths comprise 17 elements: the 15 lanthanides plus scandium (Sc) and yttrium (Y). Despite the name "rare," crustal abundance is not extremely low; the choke point is where separation and refining can be done economically. Industry groups them as follows.
| Category | Main elements | Main uses |
|---|---|---|
| Light REE (LREE) | La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Pm, Sm | Catalysts, glass polishing, permanent magnets (Nd) |
| Medium REE (MREE) | Sm to Dy (Eu, Gd, Tb, etc.) | High-temperature performance of permanent magnets, phosphors |
| Heavy REE (HREE) | Ho to Lu, Y | Improving coercivity of permanent magnets, lasers, medicine |
The seven elements under Announcement No. 18 concentrate in the medium and heavy group—exactly the grades that matter for EV drive motors, wind turbines, and high-temperature magnet performance that U.S. and European OEMs care about.
The 5 Suspended Elements (Announcement No. 57 of 2025)
Controls added by Announcements No. 55–58 on October 9, 2025 have been suspended until November 10, 2026 by Announcement No. 70 of November 7, 2025. The five additional elements:
| Element | Symbol | Category | Main uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Holmium | Ho | Heavy REE | Medical lasers |
| Erbium | Er | Heavy REE | Optical communication amplifiers, lasers |
| Thulium | Tm | Heavy REE | Portable X-ray devices |
| Europium | Eu | Medium REE | Red phosphors, displays |
| Ytterbium | Yb | Heavy REE | Optical fiber amplifiers, atomic clocks |
Some secondary reports mistranslated "iron" and "bronze"; English-language primary sources confirm Ho, Er, Tm, Eu, and Yb.
Related controls suspended at the same time
| Announcement | Scope |
|---|---|
| No. 55 | Superhard materials and synthetic diamond |
| No. 56 | Rare earth mining and refining equipment, and extraction agents |
| No. 58 | Lithium-ion batteries and synthetic graphite anode materials |
The suspension packages rare earths, mining/refining equipment, and battery materials together—relevant for anyone building non-China capacity as well as for magnet makers.
Extraterritorial Provisions: Overseas Products With Chinese-Origin Content
Announcement No. 61 of October 2025 included provisions requiring a Chinese license even for products manufactured outside China under defined conditions (suspended until November 10, 2026).
The 0.1% rule (de minimis analogue)
If Chinese-origin rare earths (annex-listed items) account for 0.1% or more of the price of an overseas product, exporting that overseas product can require a Chinese license. Functionally similar to U.S. EAR de minimis, at a low threshold that reflects how little rare-earth value often sits in a finished good—motors, sensors, and boards can clear 0.1% easily.
The 50% rule (affiliate-style)
Subsidiaries and affiliates that are 50% or more owned or controlled by a company on the control list are treated the same as the parent. This mirrors the structure of the U.S. BIS Affiliates Rule (50% rule) published in 2025—though the legal systems remain separate. See BIS 50% Rule / Affiliates Rule guide.
Products made with China-origin technology
Products manufactured using China-origin extraction, separation, or magnetic-material production technology were also brought under extraterritorial reach—functionally closer to a Foreign Direct Product-style concept than to pure content percentage.
Practical scenarios (if extraterritorial rules resume)
| Scenario | Path by which it becomes subject to control |
|---|---|
| Chinese-produced Dy procured indirectly through a trading company | Covered by Announcement No. 18 when the trading company moves it out of China |
| Components in which an overseas OEM has incorporated Chinese-origin rare earths | If they account for 0.1% or more of the finished product, a license can be required even for the OEM's export |
| Chinese rare earths re-imported via a third country | Enforcement risk as circumvention via a third country |
Even if you do not buy "from China" on the purchase order, tracing upstream can still put you inside the regime. That is the defining feature for U.S. BOM owners.
Timeline: 2025–2026 Developments
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| December 1, 2024 | Dual-Use Items Regulations and List enter into force together |
| February 2025 | Tungsten, tellurium, bismuth, molybdenum, and indium added |
| April 4, 2025 | Announcement No. 18: seven medium/heavy REEs (Sm/Gd/Tb/Dy/Lu/Sc/Y) licensed |
| October 9, 2025 | Announcements No. 55–58: five additional elements, equipment, Li-ion batteries, superhard materials. Announcement No. 61: extraterritorial application and 50% rule |
| November 7, 2025 | Announcement No. 70: suspends No. 55, 56, 57, 58, 61, and 62 until November 10, 2026 |
| December 18, 2025 | MOFCOM grants first general license to highly reliable exporters/counterparties (reported) |
| January 6, 2026 | Announcement No. 1 of 2026: dual-use exports (including the seven elements) restricted for military end uses/users in Japan |
| June 22, 2026 | Announcement No. 23 of 2026: ten U.S. entities added to the Control List for dual-use items (effective same day) |
| November 10, 2026 (scheduled) | Suspension under Announcement No. 70 expires unless extended or redesigned |
Two anchors:
- Announcement No. 18 (the seven elements) is not suspended—it remains in force.
- November 10, 2026 is a live monitoring date for extraterritorial and expanded-element measures.
Three-Point Check: Is Your Company Affected?
Check 1: Do components contain any of the seven elements?
Companies that handle EV drive motors, industrial servo motors, wind turbines, MRI, PET, YAG lasers, display phosphors, or samarium-cobalt magnets almost certainly need to look. Industry mapping:
| Industry | Affected components | Example uses |
|---|---|---|
| Automotive (incl. EVs) | NdFeB magnets (with Dy, Tb added) | Drive motors, steering, sensors |
| Semiconductor manufacturing equipment | Rare earth alloys, abrasives, specialty gases | Etching and polishing processes |
| Defense and aerospace | SmCo magnets, Sc alloys | Aircraft, guidance systems, radar |
| Medical devices | Gd (MRI), Lu (PET) | Diagnostic imaging |
| Renewable energy | NdFeB magnets | Wind turbines |
| Consumer electronics | Y, Eu (phosphors) | Displays, LEDs |
Check 2: Does procurement touch China—even indirectly?
Even without direct import, Chinese-produced rare earths often enter via trading companies, overseas OEMs, or third countries. China accounts for a dominant share of heavy rare earth separation; Dy and Tb supply chains remain highly China-concentrated. Hand-checking every tier is heavy—which is why teams use tools such as TRAFEED to keep counterparty and origin screening current. Final determination still sits with your export control officer.
Check 3: Do end uses or end users raise military dual-use flags?
Under Announcement No. 1 of 2026, dual-use items including the seven elements face tight restrictions for military end uses and end users in Japan. If your customer chain includes defense equipment suppliers or military-related subsidiaries, diligence needs to be explicit. Full Japan-list picture: China's dual-use lists and 80 Japanese entity names. List placement is regulatory classification, not a moral judgment on the named firms.
Risks of Non-Compliance
China's Export Control Law stacks administrative and criminal penalties.
| Type of violation | Penalty |
|---|---|
| Unlicensed export | Order to cease, confiscation of illegal income, fine of 5 to 10 times illegal business value (cases up to 20 times exist) |
| Revocation of export business qualification | For serious violations, export business license for the item is revoked |
| Individual liability | Fines for responsible persons, suspension from duties, ban on export-related work |
| Criminal liability | Smuggling / illegal business-type offenses; imprisonment in serious cases |
| Other | Unreliable Entity List exposure; for foreign companies, restrictions on China-related transactions, investment, and entry |
Chinese subsidiaries of U.S. and Japanese companies—and their expatriate staff—can sit inside this perimeter. Entity listings of Japanese and U.S. parties in 2026 reinforce that corporate structure, not nationality alone, drives exposure.
Five Practical Steps
Step 1 — Inventory rare-earth-bearing components. From purchasing data and BOMs, flag magnets, alloys, and compounds. HS codes such as 85051110 (permanent magnets) and 28530030 (rare earth compounds) are useful entry points.
Step 2 — Trace country of origin across tiers. Confirm rare-earth raw-material origin through primary and secondary suppliers—including traders, OEMs, and third-country routes. Prepare certificates of origin and import customs documents so a resumed 0.1% rule is not a scramble.
Step 3 — Classify end uses and end users. Sort destinations into civilian, military end use/user, and unclear. Announcement No. 1 of 2026 makes military-related dual-use shipments involving the seven elements high-friction; act early on applicable transactions.
Step 4 — Run licensing and alternative sourcing in parallel. Work with Chinese exporters on license applications. Statutory review can run up to 45 business days; practice often stretches longer. In parallel, track non-China mining and separation capacity (U.S., Malaysia, France, and others).
Caveat on alternatives: An alternative source can itself become subject to controls. On June 22, 2026, MOFCOM Announcement No. 23 placed ten U.S. entities on the Control List, prohibiting dual-use exports to them and prohibiting transfer or supply of China-origin dual-use items to them by anyone, in any country. That list includes entities often discussed as builders of non-China rare-earth supply. Being listed is a regulatory classification under Chinese law, not a finding of wrongdoing—but operationally it means diversification is not "pick one alternative and forget screening." Candidate suppliers belong in regular screening. Related context: 2026 Japan–India summit and economic security.
Step 5 — Monitor through the November 10, 2026 cliff. The suspension under Announcement No. 70 expires that day unless extended or redesigned. Treat MOFCOM announcements as a standing watch item, not a one-time memo.
Common Misconceptions
Q1. If we go through a trading company, is it irrelevant?
No. A license under Announcement No. 18 is still required when the trading company moves controlled goods out of China. If the trader cannot obtain the license, the goods do not arrive. MOFCOM has flagged third-country circumvention as an enforcement focus.
Q2. If we only consume the goods in the U.S. or Europe, is it irrelevant?
Domestic consumption still fails if the Chinese export license is not granted at the China exit. Civilian licenses tend to be more available than military-related ones, but plan for delays and information requests.
Q3. I heard it is "suspended." When does it resume?
Announcement No. 70 runs until November 10, 2026. It could resume, amend, or extend earlier. The seven elements under Announcement No. 18 are not suspended.
Q4. How should we classify?
Cross-reference Dual-Use List item numbers against chemical composition, use, and HS code. Embedded and processed items are hardest. Use MOFCOM inquiry channels or specialized counsel; JETRO and CISTEC materials help Japanese teams—U.S. counsel often pairs those with EAR content analysis.
Q5. Can overseas companies face penalties?
China's law primarily regulates exports from within China, so the Chinese exporter is the primary target. If extraterritorial provisions resume, overseas companies can need a Chinese license; Unreliable Entity List designation would restrict China-related business more broadly.
Summary
- China's rare earth controls run through a four-tier structure: Export Control Law → Dual-Use Regulations → List → MOFCOM announcements
- Still in force: seven permanently controlled elements under Announcement No. 18 (Sm/Gd/Tb/Dy/Lu/Sc/Y)
- Suspended until November 10, 2026: five additional elements, related equipment/battery packages, and extraterritorial 0.1% / 50% measures under Announcement No. 70
- Dual-use military end-use restrictions (including Announcement No. 1 of 2026 toward Japan) layer on top of the element list
- The architecture is functionally symmetric with the U.S. EAR, Japan's FEFTA, and EU dual-use regulation—best understood as economic-security export control, not as an exceptional one-off
Related reading: BIS Affiliates Rule risk, Critical minerals supply structure, Key export-control changes in 2026, China dual-use entity lists.
When Spreadsheets Stop Scaling
The difficulty of China's rare earth controls is not only "do we use the seven elements?" Extraterritorial design (0.1% and 50% rules) forces reverse tracing of the whole chain: indirect trader purchases, OEM-incorporated content, third-country re-exports.
TRAFEED (formerly ZEROCK ExCHECK) supports multi-jurisdiction counterparty and dual-use screening—China, U.S., EU, and Japan—using a large knowledge graph spanning papers, patents, corporations, and regulatory lists. In a joint validation with Okayama University on roughly 30,000 past screening records, AI screening accuracy reached 95% or higher (company research). TRAFEED is decision support; final classification always rests with your export control officer.
Learn more about TRAFEED · Book a 30-minute consultation · TRAFEED product catalog (PDF)
References
Chinese government (official)
- MOFCOM Announcement No. 18 of 2025 (seven medium and heavy rare earth elements): https://www.mofcom.gov.cn/zwgk/zcfb/art/2025/art_9c2108ccaf754f22a34abab2fedaa944.html
- MOFCOM (English version): https://english.mofcom.gov.cn/Policies/AnnouncementsOrders/art/2025/art_0dd87cbee7b045bf93fabe6ab2faceee.html/
- MOFCOM announcements page: https://www.mofcom.gov.cn/zcfb/blgg/gg/2025/index.html
- MOFCOM Bureau of Industry Security and Import and Export Control: https://aqygzj.mofcom.gov.cn/
- MOFCOM Announcement No. 23 of 2026 (ten U.S. entities, Control List, June 22, 2026): https://www.mofcom.gov.cn/zcfb/blgg/gg/2026/art/2026/art_aab677e956c943808cebf8c06a28ff0e.html
Japanese government and related institutions
- JETRO: China's trade control system: https://www.jetro.go.jp/world/asia/cn/trade_02.html
- JETRO: China's rare earth export controls (series): https://www.jetro.go.jp/biz/areareports/special/2026/0101/
- CISTEC: China's Export Control Law: https://www.cistec.or.jp/service/china_law.html
- CISTEC: Provisional translation of the Dual-Use Items Regulations: https://www.cistec.or.jp/service/keizai_anzenhosho/china/data/20241021_yaku.pdf
- CISTEC: Full-spec re-export controls on rare earth packages (October 2025): https://www.cistec.or.jp/service/keizai_anzenhosho/china/data/20251009.pdf
International analysis
- White & Case, China extraterritorial jurisdiction and 50% Rule (rare earths)
- Holland & Knight, China export controls on medium and heavy rare earth materials
- Pillsbury, China suspends certain critical mineral export controls
- IEA, China share in rare earth magnet production
- CSIS, Consequences of China's rare earths export restrictions
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