Re: Automakers Race to Find Workaround to China’s Stranglehold on Rare-Earth Magnets

While China's rare earth export control primarily targets military uses,
all companies have to do the paperwork and wait out the delay.
The following from CNN:
"Question mark over US defense firms
Baskaran, from CSIS, said that instead of lifting the export controls on
rare earths, China removed 28 American firms from its export control
list. That means those companies, mostly aerospace and defense firms,
are no longer banned from accessing dual-use materials from China, and
their Chinese suppliers can now apply for export licenses for rare earth
magnets.
But it remains to be seen whether Beijing will ultimately give out
licenses to American defense firms.
China’s rare earth export controls were “specifically designed to hit
the US defense industry, and I cannot envision China stepping back from
that,” said Thomas Kruemmer, director of the Singapore-based mineral and
metal supply chain firm Ginger International Trade and Investment.
Under the new rules, exporters must include information about end-users
in their applications, which take up to 45 working days to be approved.
“I am sure that in case of defense contractors, the Chinese Commerce
Ministry will raise pesky questions, which the Americans may be
unwilling to answer or may need Pentagon permission to answer,” Kruemmer
said.
“This way they can conveniently delay the issuance of dual-use product
export licenses beyond the self-set 45-day deadline, perhaps even beyond
this 90-day (truce) window. And it still has the option to reject the
license applications anyway.”
The licensing rules can also offer China visibility into where the rare
earth magnets end up.
“You can still get the material, but you have to fill out paperwork,
describe to China who the end user is."