South Korean media: China's Ministry of Commerce approves rare earth product exports to South Korean companies

According to Yonhap News Agency, citing South Korean government and industry sources on the 25th, China's Ministry of Commerce has approved rare earth product exports to most South Korean companies this month. As a result, South Korea's concerns about the unsmooth rare earth supply chain have been temporarily alleviated.

The report stated that this is the first confirmed case of Chinese exports of rare earth products to South Korea since the Chinese government imposed export controls on seven types of rare earth elements on April 4th. The US government announced a 34% "reciprocal tariff" on Chinese goods imported into the US on February 2nd. Two days later, China retaliated by announcing a 34% tariff on American goods and implementing export controls on seven categories of medium and heavy rare earth-related items.

Yonhap News Agency reported that the seven medium and heavy rare earth metal elements are samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium, and yttrium. They are used in high-tech fields such as smartphones and electric vehicles and are also raw materials for green industries. South Korea is highly dependent on China for the supply of rare earth products. A related report released by the International Trade and Economic Research Institute of the Korea International Trade Association showed that as of last year, the dependence on China for chip components and accessories was 3.4%, chemical products containing rare earths was 29.1%, rare earth compounds was 61.1%, and rare earth metals was 79.8%.

It was reported that after China announced the implementation of the above control measures, the South Korean government maintained communication with China through hotlines, urging China to expedite the approval process for rare earth export permits to minimize potential losses for South Korean companies. Considering that China's approval of exports to South Korean companies is still ongoing, and given the uncertainty in Sino-US relations, the South Korean government believes that China's relevant measures may still change and is closely monitoring developments in the export control measures.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1833057570398281/

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