BEIJING: China suspended an export ban to the United States that had targeted gallium, germanium and antimony, metals crucial for modern technology, including semiconductors, Beijing&#39;s commerce ministry announced Sunday. The restrictions banned the export of so-called &quot;dual-use&quot; goods, materials that can have both civilian and military applications. Imposed in December 2024, the ban will now be suspended until November 27, 2026, Beijing&#39;s commerce ministry said in a statement. The announcement comes after leaders Xi Jinping and Donald Trump met on October 30 in South Korea and agreed to walk back some punitive measures imposed during their tit-for-tat tariff escalation. At one point, duties on both sides reached prohibitive triple-digit levels, hampering trade between the world&#39;s two largest economies and snarling global supply chains. Throughout the trade war, China has sought to leverage its chokehold over the critical minerals underpinning everything from smartphones to advanced military technology.

Americas

China

The announcement comes after leaders Xi Jinping and Donald Trump met on October 30 in South Korea and agreed to walk back some punitive measures imposed during their tit-for-tat tariff escalation.

China halts export ban to US of some 'dual use' materials: ministry

KWALE:Division and suspicion have gripped five villages near Kenya&#39;s coast as global powers from the United States to China eye a forest that is rich in rare earths -- minerals vital to high-tech and low-carbon industries. The US government under President Donald Trump has made securing critical minerals central to its diplomacy in Africa, including through a peace deal in the resource-rich Democratic Republic of Congo this year. Mrima Hill -- a forest of around 390 acres near Kenya&#39;s Indian Ocean coastline -- could be another target. It sits quietly on huge rare-earth deposits that Cortec Mining Kenya, a subsidiary of UK and Canada-based Pacific Wildcat Resources, estimated in 2013 were worth $62.4 billion, including large stores of niobium, used to strengthen steel. US official Marc Dillard visited the hill in June when he was serving as the interim ambassador to Kenya. Other foreigners also attempted to visit in recent months, including Chinese nationals who were turned away, according to Juma Koja, a guard for the Mrima Hill community. An Australian consortium of mining firms RareX and Iluka Resources announced a bid this year to mine rare earths on the site, and locals say land speculators are flocking to the area. Buried riches The interest is worrying the community, mostly of the Digo ethnic group, who fear they will be evicted or denied a share in future mining windfalls. The lush forest is home to their sacred shrines and has long supported farming and livelihoods, though today more than half the population lives in extreme poverty, according to government data. AFP was initially barred access to the forest. &quot;People come here with big cars... but we turn them away,&quot; said Koja. His stance stems from past encounters with prospective investors -- a process he says was not transparent. &quot;I do not want my people to be exploited,&quot; he said. Kenya revoked a mining licence in 2013 that had been granted to Cortec Mining Kenya, citing environmental and licensing irregularities. Cortec claimed in court that the licence was revoked after it refused to pay a bribe to then&ndash;mining minister Najib Balala, an allegation he denied. The company lost multiple legal efforts over the revocation. In 2019, Kenya imposed a temporary ban on new mining licences over concerns about corruption and environmental degradation. But it now sees a major opportunity, particularly as China -- the biggest source of rare earths -- increasingly limits its exports. Kenya&#39;s mining ministry announced &quot;bold reforms&quot; this year, including tax breaks and improved licensing transparency, aimed at attracting investors and boosting the sector from 0.8 percent of GDP to 10 percent by 2030. Daniel Weru Ichang&#39;i, a retired economic geology professor at the University of Nairobi, said Kenya had a long way to go, especially in gathering reliable data on its resources. &quot;There&#39;s a romantic view that mining is an easy area, and one can get rich quickly... We need to sober up,&quot; he told AFP. &quot;Corruption makes this area, which is very high-risk, less attractive to invest in.&quot; Competition between the West and China is driving up prices, but if the country wants to profit, it &quot;must stick to the law, and individual interests must be subjugated to that of the nation,&quot; he said. &#39;Mrima is our life&#39; On Mrima Hill, locals worry for their livelihoods, sacred shrines, medicinal plants, and the forest they have known all their lives. &quot;This Mrima is our life... Where will we be taken?&quot; said Mohammed Riko, 64, vice chairman of the Mrima Hill Community Forest Association. Koja is concerned about the loss of unique indigenous trees like the giant orchid, already a problem before mining has even started. &quot;In my heart I am crying. This Mrima has endangered species that we are losing,&quot; he said. But others, like Domitilla Mueni, treasurer of the Mrima Hill association, see an opportunity. She has been developing her land -- planting trees, farming -- in order to push up the value when mining companies come to buy. &quot;Why should we die poor while we have minerals?&quot; she said.

Business

The US government under President Donald Trump has made securing critical minerals central to its diplomacy in Africa, including through a peace deal in the resource-rich Congo this year.

Global race for rare earths comes to Kenya

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: US President Donald Trump has urged China to resume purchases of American soybeans and stop the flow of fentanyl into the United States, warning that he would not make a trade deal unless Beijing complied, Reuters reported.&nbsp;Speaking to reporters, Trump said, &ldquo;One of the things I want is China to buy soybeans. I want China to stop with the fentanyl &mdash; very normal things. I don&rsquo;t want them to play the rare earth game with us.&quot;&nbsp;Asked whether he believed China would agree, Trump replied, &ldquo;I do believe, yeah, because otherwise I&#39;m not going to make a deal. Our farmers have been boycotted by China as a negotiating point. I want them to start buying soybeans at least in the amount they were buying before.&quot;&nbsp;Trump also claimed China was paying record tariffs, adding that he was open to lowering them only if Beijing &ldquo;does things for us too.&rdquo;&nbsp;The remarks came amid heightened US-China trade tensions after Beijing expanded export rules on rare earth materials &mdash; a move analysts say mirrors long-standing American trade controls.&nbsp;According to an Associated Press report, China&rsquo;s new export restrictions require foreign firms to seek approval from Beijing to sell products containing even small amounts of Chinese-origin rare earth materials or technology. This effectively gives China influence over the global supply chain of smartphones, electric vehicles, and advanced weapons systems.&nbsp;Analysts say Beijing&rsquo;s strategy borrows directly from US trade playbooks. &ldquo;China is learning from the best,&rdquo; said Neil Thomas of the Asia Society Policy Institute. &ldquo;Beijing is copying Washington&rsquo;s playbook because it saw firsthand how effectively US export controls could constrain its own development.&rdquo;&nbsp;The move follows a series of tit-for-tat measures since Trump relaunched his trade war earlier this year. Beijing has since blacklisted several US firms, tightened export controls on critical minerals, and imposed matching tariffs &mdash; including a 125% &ldquo;Liberation Day&rdquo; tariff in April.&nbsp;Experts warn the spiral could deepen global economic uncertainty. Jeremy Daum of Yale Law School told AP that while both governments now share a &ldquo;holistic view of national security,&rdquo; their reciprocal measures risk turning into a &ldquo;race to the bottom where nobody wins.

Says he wants China to buy soybeans and does not want them to play the rare earth game with us.

Trump presses China on soybeans, fentanyl amid escalating rare earth tensions

SYDNEY:&nbsp;Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese meets with President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday, touting his country&#39;s abundant critical minerals as a way to loosen China&#39;s grip over global supplies. At the same time, Albanese is hoping to secure Trump&#39;s backing for a 2021 pact to arm Australia with silent, nuclear-powered attack submarines. Australians have a mostly unfavourable view of the Trump administration, polling shows, though the country relies on the United States to balance China&#39;s expanding military clout in the Pacific region. In the run-up to the White House talks, Australia is selling itself to Washington as a future source of critical minerals, including rare earths, of which China is by far the world&#39;s largest supplier. Australia sits on deposits of lithium, cobalt, and manganese as well as rare earth metals used in technologies from semiconductors to defence hardware, electric cars, and wind turbines. Albanese, who said he looked forward to a &quot;positive and constructive&quot; meeting with Trump, announced plans in April for a strategic reserve of critical minerals to provide to &quot;key partners&quot; such as the United States. The reserve is designed to help relax China&#39;s chokehold on global critical minerals production, which it has been accused of leveraging to pressure trade partners. Trump this month threatened 100% tariffs on China in response to its latest rare earths export curbs, though he later eased his stance with a social media post saying: &quot;It will all be fine.&quot; China the &#39;focal point&#39;Australia&#39;s economy minister, Treasurer Jim Chalmers, said his country had &quot;a lot to offer the world&quot; in critical minerals. &quot;We will engage with our partners to make sure that we can be a very reliable supplier to meet the critical minerals needs of this country, here in the US, and other markets around the world,&quot; Chalmers told a news conference in Washington on Friday. But the treasurer has also taken a swipe at impediments to global trade, raising concerns over the economic impact of US tariffs, including a 10-percent levy on Australian goods, and the US-China trade spat. On defence, Australia&#39;s government will be hoping for Trump&#39;s blessing of the 2021 agreement to equip its navy with at least three US Virginia-class submarines within 15 years, and the technology to build its own vessels in the future. The AUKUS submarine deal between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States could cost Australia up to US$235 billion over the next 30 years, according to Canberra. The nuclear-powered vessels lie at the heart of Australia&#39;s strategy of improving its long-range strike capabilities in the Pacific. But the Trump administration said in June it had put AUKUS under review to ensure it aligned with his &quot;America First agenda,&quot; with some critics saying the United States did not produce enough Virginia-class submarines to supply Australia as well as its own navy. Australia&#39;s government says it has received no indications that Washington will withdraw support for AUKUS, which is expected to be raised in the White House talks. &quot;AUKUS should be given the green light and once again confirmed as the foundation of Australia&#39;s security and vital to the United States&#39; interest in competing with a rising Beijing-led authoritarian axis,&quot; predicted Justin Bassi, executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a think tank partly funded by Australia&#39;s Department of Defence. &quot;China will likely be the focal point of discussions even if it is rarely mentioned publicly: AUKUS, critical minerals, cyber, and critical technologies are frontline agenda topics, and all are about China.&quot;

Australasia

Australian PM Anthony Albanese meets President Trump in Washington to promote Australia’s critical minerals and seek reaffirmation of the AUKUS submarine pact, amid tensions over China’s dominance in global supply chains and Pacific security.

Aussie PM meets Trump with critical minerals on offer

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is keeping China informed about its rare earth exports to the United States. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian said this in a regular press conference in Beijing on Monday.&nbsp; Responding to an issue raised during the presser that &ldquo;Pakistan took advantage of Chinese equipment and technology to export rare earth to the US, which resulted in China&rsquo;s strict export control measures on rare earth-related technologies&rdquo;, Lin said, &ldquo;From what I&rsquo;ve learned, the two countries have been in communication on Pakistan-US mining cooperation.&rdquo; &ldquo;Pakistan stressed that its interactions with the US will never harm China&rsquo;s interests or its cooperation with China,&rdquo; he added. &lsquo;Just baseless&rsquo;&nbsp;On the question, &ldquo;Some we-media accounts said in videos and articles that Pakistan sent rare earth samples to the US and agreed on rare earth cooperation, and China took countermeasures against Pakistan&rsquo;s rare earth exports to the US&rdquo;, Lin categorically stated: &ldquo;The reported stories that you mentioned are either misinformed or invented, or even designed to drive a wedge between China and Pakistan. They are just baseless.&rdquo; He said, &ldquo;The samples that the Pakistani leaders showed and gave to the US leader are gem ores purchased by staff in Pakistan.&rdquo; Lin stated that China&rsquo;s recently released export control measures on related rare earth items have no connection to Pakistan. &ldquo;It is a legitimate action by the Chinese government to refine its export control system in accordance with laws and regulations. It aims to better defend world peace and regional stability and to fulfill non-proliferation and other international obligations,&rdquo; he added. Pak-Afghan Taliban clashes&nbsp;On the issue of clashes between Pakistan and Afghan Taliban, Jian said, &ldquo;Pakistan and Afghanistan are both friendly neighbors of China. The two countries are and will always be neighbors of each other.&rdquo;&nbsp; &ldquo;Upholding good-neighborliness and the friendly ties, pursuing economic and social development, and jointly combating terrorism serve the fundamental and long-term interests of both sides,&rdquo; he added.

Asia

Responding to a question raised during a presser, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said, 'From what I’ve learned, the two countries have been in communication on Pakistan-US mining cooperation.'

Pakistan keeping China informed about rare earth exports to US: Beijing 

Reuters

HONG KONG: US semiconductor manufacturer Qualcomm admitted that it had not informed Chinese authorities when it completed its acquisition of Israel&#39;s Autotalks in June, China&#39;s market regulator said on Sunday.&nbsp;The disclosure was made two days after China launched an antitrust investigation into Qualcomm, examining whether the US firm violated China&#39;s antitrust law by not declaring some details of its acquisition of the Israeli chip designer.&nbsp;Qualcomm did not immediately respond to Reuters&#39; request for comment.&nbsp;China&#39;s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) said it informed Qualcomm in March 2024 that the deal requires approval by the regulator, and the US firm in the same month notified SAMR it wouldn&#39;t pursue further.&nbsp;However, Qualcomm in June this year completed the deal without informing the authority, the regulator said, adding Qualcomm &quot;acknowledged above facts,&quot; based on which Beijing launched the antitrust probe.&nbsp;Qualcomm&#39;s shares fell more than 5% on Friday after US President Donald Trump threatened to hike tariffs against China and cancel a planned meeting with President Xi Jinping.

The disclosure comes two days after China launched an antitrust investigation into Qualcomm, examining whether it violated China's antitrust law by not declaring some details of its acquisition of the Israeli chip designer.

China says Qualcomm admitted to acquiring Autotalks without informing regulator

BEIJING: China called President Donald Trump&#39;s latest US tariffs on Chinese goods hypocritical on Sunday and defended its curbs on exports of rare earths, but stopped short of imposing new levies on US products.&nbsp;The commerce ministry said in a statement its export controls on rare-earth elements - which Trump on Friday called &quot;surprising&quot; and &quot;very hostile&quot; - followed a series of US measures since bilateral trade talks in Madrid last month.&nbsp;Beijing cited the addition of Chinese companies to a US trade blacklist and Washington&#39;s imposition of port fees on Chinese vessels as examples.&nbsp;&quot;These actions have severely harmed China&#39;s interests and undermined the atmosphere for bilateral economic and trade talks. China firmly opposes them,&quot; the ministry said.&nbsp;Beijing stopped short of explicitly linking these US actions to its curbs on exports of critical minerals, stating that its curbs were motivated by concerns about the military applications of these metals at a time of &quot;frequent military conflict.&quot; Tensions flare againA few months ago, Beijing and Washington agreed on an uneasy truce in their tit-for-tat trade war that started earlier this year and threw bilateral trade into serious jeopardy.&nbsp;But tensions have boiled up again in recent days.&nbsp;China said on Friday that it would impose &quot;special port fees&quot; on ships operated by and built in the US, calling it a &quot;defensive action.&quot;&nbsp;It aimed at the US&#39;s own port fees charged on Chinese ships, claiming they &quot;severely harmed China&#39;s interests.&quot;&nbsp;Washington announced those fees in April as part of an effort to revive American shipbuilding after a decades-long decline that has seen China and other Asian nations come to dominate the industry.

The commerce ministry says its export controls on rare-earth elements - which Trump on Friday called "surprising" and "very hostile" - follow a series of US measures since bilateral trade talks in Madrid last month.

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