On November 7, 2025, China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and the General Administration of Customs (GAC) issued Announcement No. 70 of 2025, suspending a series of export restrictions that had elevated trade policy supply chain risk and upended global mineral markets only weeks earlier. The order halts enforcement of six prior measures (MOFCOM and GAC Announcements No. 55, 56, 57, and 58, and MOFCOM Announcements No. 61 and 62) until November 10, 2026.
The decision followed a pivotal October 30 meeting in Busan, South Korea, between President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump, where the two leaders reached a trade and economic deal that linked tariffs, semiconductor access, and critical-mineral exports. Within days of that summit, Beijing began rolling back its October restrictions in what analysts described as the most significant gesture of trade de-escalation since 2020.
The suspended measures had been introduced on October 9, 2025, when China imposed new export controls on rare earth elements, lithium-battery materials, and processing technologies. Those rules tightened licensing requirements and added end-use verification for metals such as gallium, germanium, and antimony, materials essential for semiconductors and defense systems. Their sudden implementation rattled global supply chains and raised fears of a prolonged resource squeeze. By early November, however, the tone had shifted. The November 7 announcement formally paused these controls for one year, restoring the legal ability to export critical materials and signaling that China’s trade truce with the U.S. was, for now, holding.
Why did China suspend its export controls on rare earths and critical minerals?
The roots of this suspension go back to October 9, 2025, when Beijing introduced new restrictions on critical minerals and related processing technologies. These measures covered materials essential for both civilian and military industries, everything from chipmaking to battery production, and they triggered warnings from manufacturers worldwide.
By the end of October, the political climate had shifted. At the Xi–Trump summit in Busan, both leaders agreed to link several contentious issues such as tariffs, semiconductor retaliation, and fentanyl enforcement, into a single trade framework. China’s November 7 announcement was the bureaucratic follow-through to that negotiation, providing one year of breathing room for exporters and their foreign buyers.
What specific Chinese export bans were suspended, and how broad is the rollback?
The rollback unfolded in two stages. On November 7, Beijing paused its October restrictions on rare earths and lithium battery materials. Two days later, it extended the suspension to include gallium, germanium, antimony, and “super-hard” materials such as synthetic diamonds and boron nitrides, while also relaxing end-use checks for graphite exports. Together, these measures effectively froze most of the critical-minerals controls China had implemented since 2023. In Europe the reaction was immediate, EU officials welcomed China’s 12-month pause and opened discussions on a general-licensing system to stabilize rare-earth supply. That engagement shows how the consequences of China’s decision extend well beyond its trade with the U.S.
What did the U.S. agree to in exchange for China’s suspension of rare-earth export controls?
The Busan accord was structured as a reciprocal easing of tensions. Washington reduced tariffs on Chinese imports by ten percentage points, kept its suspension of “reciprocal tariffs” in place until late 2026, and postponed new export-control rules that would have blacklisted Chinese-owned subsidiaries. It also extended Section 301 tariff exclusions and paused certain enforcement actions.
Agriculture featured prominently in the deal. China committed to renewed purchases of U.S. soybeans, sorghum, and timber through 2028. In technology, it agreed to end retaliatory measures against American semiconductor manufacturers and to allow facilities such as Nexperia’s Chinese operations to resume normal production.
Why does China’s suspension of mineral export bans matter for global supply chains?
China dominates the world’s refining capacity for rare earths and battery minerals. When it restricted exports in October, manufacturers feared immediate shortages of metals critical to the production of chips, magnets, and batteries, underscoring how quickly trade policy supply chain risk can escalate across global industries.
That anxiety eased once the suspension took effect. Customs data released November 7 showed China’s rare-earth exports rising 9% from the previous month to 4,343 metric tons, reversing three months of decline. Market prices stabilized, and industrial buyers began restoring purchase orders. The EU’s subsequent outreach to Beijing reinforced the perception that major economies were seeking cooperation rather than competition over supply.
Is China’s pause on critical-mineral export controls permanent or temporary?
China’s Ministry of Commerce was explicit that the decision represents a suspension, not a repeal. Under Chinese administrative law, a suspension halts enforcement while keeping the regulation legally intact, allowing it to be reactivated without drafting new policy. That nuance matters. It means Beijing can quickly re-impose export controls if talks with Washington falter or if it wishes to reassert leverage. The structure of the pause reflects strategic caution which offers flexibility without conceding authority.
How does the China–U.S. trade truce on minerals relate to fentanyl enforcement and semiconductor policy?
The Busan agreement linked economic and security priorities that had previously been negotiated separately. China pledged to crack down on exports of chemical precursors used in fentanyl production and to impose tighter oversight on sensitive compounds worldwide. In parallel, it rolled back punitive investigations against U.S. semiconductor firms and reopened export channels for legacy-chip production. For both governments, the result was transactional diplomacy: each side secured a visible domestic win while reducing immediate pressure on key industries.
What could happen after China’s export-control suspension expires in November 2026?
The one-year window creates a checkpoint rather than a conclusion. Both governments will evaluate compliance next autumn. By then, the U.S. will have completed its election cycle, and China will be advancing its next Five-Year Plan—political milestones that could shift economic strategy. Until then the bottleneck is bureaucratic rather than physical, meaning exporters must still obtain licenses and pass end-use reviews. The new status quo is not open trade but managed permission, where paperwork replaces prohibition.
What does China’s suspension of mineral export controls mean for supply chains in the future?
China’s decision to pause its rare earth and critical-mineral export controls closes one chapter of a larger story about interdependence and leverage. The suspension offers a year of breathing room, but it does not restore predictability. It simply shifts the challenge from surviving a ban to preparing for the next policy change. For global manufacturers and suppliers, the message is clear. Export regulation has become a live variable in supply planning, as influential as cost or capacity. The ability to leverage AI trade policy monitoring to track developments in real time and understand how they affect sourcing, licensing, and end-use approvals will separate those who adapt from those who react.
The year ahead should be treated as a planning cycle, not a grace period. Every company that depends on critical minerals from China will need to stress-test its supply chain against the possibility that controls could return. That means reviewing contracts, mapping exposure, and negotiating flexibility with both customers and upstream suppliers. Those conversations take time, and they will matter more once the current pause expires. The structure of Beijing’s decision also points toward the future. By suspending the controls rather than abolishing them, China has shown that export authorizations are now a policy instrument to be dialed up or down as needed. This approach rewards companies that can demonstrate transparency in ownership and end-use while leaving less prepared competitors vulnerable to delay.
Ultimately, this year of temporary openness should be used to build systems that can absorb uncertainty. Resilient supply chains are not built during crises; they are built in the quiet moments between them. The companies that use this pause to strengthen their visibility and flexibility will enter the next policy cycle not as observers, but as participants who are ready for whatever follows.
Conclusion
Policy changes should no longer be treated as isolated shocks; they are recurring events that shape production planning and pricing. The ability to anticipate these shifts, rather than react to them, is becoming a core measure of resilience.
Resilinc’s agentic AI platform helps organizations operate with that level of awareness through AI trade policy monitoring and real-time event detection. EventWatchAI continuously monitors global developments, scanning over 104 million data sources to flag export bans, trade policy changes, and regional disruptions as they appear. Combined with Multi-Tier Mapping and Monitoring, companies gain visibility into where their critical minerals originate, tracing dependencies through multiple supplier layers down to individual sites. When trade policies tighten again, Resilinc’s Tariffs Agent can instantly assess exposure and model the financial effects of new restrictions. The tool also recommends alternative sourcing strategies, allowing businesses to respond within minutes rather than days. The shift from reactive compliance to proactive decision-making helps manufacturers protect output and maintain competitiveness even as regulations evolve.
China’s policy pause may prove temporary, but it provides a reminder that resilience is not a single achievement, especially as trade policy supply chain risk continues to shape global planning. It is an ongoing discipline of monitoring, preparation, and adaptation. In a world where the availability of microscopic materials can influence entire industries, foresight has become the most valuable resource. With AI-driven insight and visibility, supply-chain leaders can turn volatility into advantage and ensure that essential materials remain secure, whatever the next policy cycle brings.
