Ford Motor Company is still struggling to obtain rare earth magnets necessary for automobile production, and the shortage of these magnets has led to the temporary shutdown of a factory.
In an interview with Bloomberg on June 13, Ford CEO Jim Farley said, "The supply of these key components has been slowly trickling out of China. China has implemented a new approval process for rare earth exports, which has further slowed down the supply chain."
"It's being calculated by the day now," Farley said. "We are currently stretched thin, so we have had to shut down factories." Due to the shortage of rare earth materials, Ford had to halt production at its Chicago Explorer SUV plant for a week last month.
Farley mentioned that he was satisfied with the recent progress in US-China trade negotiations.
Rare earth magnets are widely used in automobiles to power components such as windshield wipers, seats, and audio systems.
"We have submitted applications to the Ministry of Commerce of China, and these applications are being reviewed one by one," Farley stated.
On June 12, when speaking about the first meeting of the US-China economic and trade consultation mechanism, He Yadong, spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce, revealed that as a responsible major country, China fully considers the reasonable needs and concerns of all countries in the private sector, reviews export permit applications related to rare earths according to law, has legally approved a certain number of compliant applications, and will continue to strengthen the approval work of compliant applications.
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Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7515609694795203111/
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