Korean Media: China Targets U.S. Rare Earths and Defense Industries — 10 Export-Controlled Entities, 46 Prohibited for Procurement

U.S. Sanctions Chinese Firms, G7 Discusses Decoupling from China on Rare Earths; China Announces Sanctions Against Mount Pleasant Materials, Lockheed Martin, and Others

China has implemented large-scale sanctions against major U.S. rare earth companies and defense, drone-related enterprises. Recently, the United States announced sanctions on 188 Chinese technology firms, while the Group of Seven (G7) reached a consensus to restructure the rare earth supply chain. In response to intensified U.S. containment efforts toward China, Beijing has taken countermeasures.

On the 22nd, the Ministry of Commerce of China announced via its official website that, in order to safeguard national security and interests, fulfill international obligations such as non-proliferation, and based on laws including the Export Control Law of the People's Republic of China and the Regulations on the Export Control of Dual-Use Items of the People's Republic of China, it has decided to place 10 U.S. entities on the export control list.

According to the announcement, Chinese export operators are prohibited from exporting dual-use items to the aforementioned 10 entities; no organization or individual from any country or region may transfer or provide dual-use items originating from China to these entities. Any ongoing export activities by these companies must be immediately halted. In exceptional cases where exports are necessary, applications must be submitted to the Ministry of Commerce.

The export control list includes: rare earth companies — Mount Pleasant Materials, American Rare Earths; drone and defense companies — AeroVironment, Red Cat Holdings, Teal Drone, IMSAR, Jia Robotics, Ball Aerospace Technologies, Oshkosh Defense, L3 Harris Maritime Services.

According to Bloomberg, Mount Pleasant Materials is a rare earth mining and processing enterprise owned by the U.S. Department of Defense, established as part of the U.S. government’s initiative to reduce dependence on China for rare earth materials. After China introduced rare earth export controls in May 2025, Mount Pleasant Materials and American Rare Earths have continuously expanded their production capacity over the past year.

Meanwhile, the G7 recently reached an agreement to reduce reliance on China, aiming to lower the share of imports of rare earths and permanent magnets from specific countries to below 60% by 2030. On the 8th, the U.S. Department of Defense announced that it would include 188 Chinese technology firms — such as Alibaba, Baidu, BYD (BYF), and CXMT (Changxin Memory Technologies) — in its “Chinese Military Companies” list and impose sanctions.

On the same day, China’s Ministry of Finance issued regulations stating that government procurement activities shall not purchase products manufactured by 46 U.S. companies. The Ministry’s official website released a notice to all central budgetary units and local finance departments, stating: "Based on relevant laws and regulations and after approval, it is hereby decided to implement relevant measures against 46 U.S. enterprises in government procurement activities."

The sanctioned list includes: Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Missiles & Defense, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, General Dynamics Land Systems, Boeing Defense, Space & Security.

The above measures issued by the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Finance took effect immediately.

Source: Chosun Ilbo

Original Article: toutiao.com/article/1868680225947724/

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) alone.