The U.S., EU and Japan request a dispute settlement panel over China’s export regulations

The European Union, the United States and Japan are now requesting that a settlement panel at the World Trade Organization further review the joint complaint filed in March regarding China’s export restrictions on rare earth minerals—elements essential to industries from manufacturing to technology.

EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht accused China of “violating its WTO commitments” by maintaining lower prices of rare earth minerals for its domestic manufacturers, forcing international companies to move operations into China. With China accounting for approximately 97 percent of the world’s output of rare earth minerals, the ability to “diversify away from the Chinese supply” is hurting both EU and U.S. producers and consumers.

This continued geopolitical turbulence only serves to underline the essential need for the United States to develop its own long-term minerals policy goals and utilize the more than $6.2 trillion worth of key domestic minerals resources to our advantage. Ensuring that we have access to these critical minerals is vital for a strong energy and economic security for decades to come.

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