Some of China's restrictions on the export of rare earths are being maintained, although after a meeting between the presidents of the United States and China on Thursday there has been a softening in the area of the important minerals.
China has thus agreed to postpone the latest restrictions, while everything indicates that restrictions on exports that China introduced in April are still in force.
This is reported by the news agency Reuters.
China is the world's largest exporter of rare earths. The restrictions have therefore become a problem not only for the United States, but also globally.
Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping met in South Korea on Thursday night Danish time, after the United States and China have subjected each other to, among other things, increased tariffs and restrictions on exports for six months. The meeting resulted, among other things, in China postponing some of its restrictions on rare earth exports by one year.
Rare earths are essential in the production of a wide range of technological products - including smartphones, wind turbines, electric cars and military equipment.
The term "rare earths" covers 17 metals.
In April, China introduced restrictions on seven metals as well as rare earth magnets. This type of magnet is extremely strong and is used in electric cars, smartphones and computers, among other things.
9. On October 1, China introduced further restrictions.
The new restrictions included requiring exporters of rare earths to have a special permit to use technology used to extract rare earths in China.
The US administration has since accused China of being slow to issue permits to exporters of rare earths.
In addition to easing restrictions on rare earth exports, the meeting between Trump and Xi resulted in the US lowering its tariffs on Chinese goods from 57 to 47 percent.
/ritzau/
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