Treasury Secretary Bessent: US Will Break China's Rare Earth Monopoly Within Two Years

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned that China "made a real mistake" by threatening export controls on rare earths, telling the Financial Times that Beijing's gambit had backfired by exposing its willingness to weaponise critical minerals. The comments came after Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreed to a truce over China's export restrictions during meetings in South Korea this week.

Beijing announced new controls in October on exports of technologies related to rare earths, crucial for manufacturing in defence, automobile, consumer electronics and other industries. The restrictions were a major sticking point in trade negotiations between Beijing and Washington, and China said it would halt them after Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump met this week. Under a one-year agreement, both sides reached an "equilibrium" to operate within over the next 12 months.

Bessent told the Financial Times: "China has alerted everyone to the danger. They've made a real mistake". He added: "It's one thing to put the gun on the table. It's another thing to fire shots in the air. " The Treasury secretary suggested Chinese leadership were "slightly alarmed by the global backlash to their export controls".

China produces roughly 70 per cent of the world's supply of rare earths and processes almost 90 per cent, meaning it imports these materials from other countries and processes them. Bessent said China's control over rare earth materials will be broken within the next two years, marking an aggressive timeline for the United States to ramp up domestic production. The Treasury secretary insisted that China would not be able to pull the same move again, saying "we have offsetting measures".

Bessent warned that China would not be able to keep using its critical minerals as a coercive tool. Under the deal, China agreed to postpone the implementation of its rare earths regime and buy large amounts of US soybeans. The agreement offers relief to global buyers after China's export controls rattled markets and snarled supply chains in the strategic sector.