The standoff between Washington and Beijing over rare earth exports escalated on Thursday, as Chinese state media pushed back forcefully against U.S. criticism of Beijing’s latest export controls.
In a detailed response, Chinese outlets released a seven-point rebuttal to U.S. demands to scrap the new restrictions, which are set to take effect on November 8. The exchange underscores deepening tensions between the world’s two largest economies as they edge closer to a high-stakes meeting between their leaders.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Wednesday called China’s new rare earth export restrictions “a global supply-chain power grab,” suggesting that Beijing could defuse President Donald Trump’s threat to reimpose triple-digit tariffs on Chinese goods by abandoning the measures.
Beijing insists it gave advance notice to Washington and argues the new licensing system is aligned with export control standards “long in place in other major economies.”
The current war of words has been simmering since a September phone call between Trump and Xi Jinping, after which both sides accused each other of inflaming tensions ahead of their anticipated bilateral meeting.
Beijing attributes the rising hostility to the U.S. Commerce Department’s surprise expansion of its Entity List in late September, targeting Chinese and foreign companies allegedly bypassing U.S. export controls on chipmaking tools and other advanced technologies.
Washington, meanwhile, points to Beijing’s new critical minerals measures, which Trump described as “shocking,” as the trigger for the escalation.
“The United States has long overstated national security concerns and abused controls, adopting discriminatory practices against China,” stated one of the seven infographics published by People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the ruling Communist Party. It also highlighted that Washington maintains a control list of over 3,000 items, compared to roughly 900 on China’s list.
“Implementing such export controls is consistent with international practice,” the same poster emphasized, reiterating Beijing’s justification for the move.
Washington itself has enforced similar export control measures since the 1950s and has increasingly used them to block foreign semiconductor firms from supplying Chinese customers with U.S.-origin technology.
“Washington should not be surprised by China’s ’tit-for-tat’,” argued an editorial in Global Times, a tabloid affiliated with People’s Daily and often a bellwether for Beijing’s next steps.
“The sudden shift in the trade atmosphere caught many by surprise, yet that’s not surprising,” the editorial continued.
“The direct trigger for this round of tension was Washington’s breach of promises – an all-too familiar pattern.”
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