China's rare earth rules apply to EU

ROME:

The EU's commissioner for trade on Friday said China's one-year suspension on its restrictions of rare earth materials would apply to the bloc as well as the United States.

"My understanding is that the agreement, which was found between the US and China in this matter, is 'erga omnes', so we should apply it to all and, of course, including the European Union," Maros Sefcovic told reporters during a visit to Rome.

Following discussions with the United States, China on Thursday said it would suspend certain export restrictions announced in October, including on rare earth materials, for one year.

The controls on rare earths -- a major sticking point in trade negotiations between US President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping this week -- have rattled markets and snarled supply chains. Sefcovic, who met both with Italy's Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, said the EU was now having "high-level official talks on export controls" with China.