US-China rare earths dynamics: Scott Bessent slams Beijing’s restrictions; treasury secy claims India & others moving at ‘warp speed’ to cut reliance

US treasury secretary Scott Bessent once again criticised China’s rare earth export controls, saying the United States and its allies are now moving at “warp speed” to build independent supply chains and reduce reliance on Beijing.Speaking to CNN, Bessent said that China’s strategy had been in motion for decades and accused the previous US governments of failing to respond in time.“I think it’s naive for the Wall Street Journal editorial board, who I call a bunch of grumpy old men, to think that the Chinese weren’t going to roll out these rare earth restrictions. They’ve been putting this plan together for 25, 30 years, and the US has been asleep at the switch,” he said.He stressed that the Biden administration is accelerating efforts to counter China’s leverage. “And now this administration, we’re going to go at warp speed over the next 1-2 years, and we’re going to get out from under the this sword that the Chinese have over us, and they have it over the whole world. And this time, we have rallied the allies.”He further added that now countries are going to reduce their reliance on Chinese rare earths.“And so it is going to be a all the Western democracies, the Asian democracies, and India are also going to join us in this, in trying to form our own supply chains. We don’t want to decouple from China, but we need to de risk they’ve shown themselves to be an unreliable partner in many areas.”

Rare earth dispute that sparked the standoff

In October, China introduced new export restrictions on rare earths, minerals crucial for defence systems, electric vehicles and consumer electronics. The move triggered immediate alarm in Washington and among global manufacturers, with access to these materials seen as critical to national security and advanced technology supply chains.Bessent had earlier described the decision as a strategic error by Beijing. In comments published by the Financial Times, he said China’s action sent a warning signal to governments worldwide, “China has alerted everyone to the danger. They’ve made a real mistake.”Referring to the impact of Beijing’s move on trade and supply chains, he added, “It’s one thing to put the gun on the table. It’s another thing to fire shots in the air.”The restrictions briefly slowed shipments and unsettled rare-earth–dependent industries, emerging as a new flashpoint in US–China trade relations.Now, China has agreed to pause some of its export restrictions after high-level talks between President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea this week. Beijing announced that it would suspend certain export limits, including those involving rare-earth materials, for one year.According to US treasury secretary Scott Bessent, the recent episode may discourage China from taking similar action again. Bessent added that China may not have anticipated the scale of the reaction triggered by its export limits. “I think the Chinese leadership were slightly alarmed by the global backlash to their export controls,” Bessent said.