China Extends Rare-Earth Export Pause to January 10 as Trade Truce Holds

China has extended its pause on additional rare-earth export controls to January 10, 2027, removing a deadline that had worried manufacturers and governments around the world. The announcement came on Monday, November 9, 2026, from China’s Ministry of Commerce, known as MOFCOM, and the General Administration of Customs, and was reported by Reuters.

The extension gives the world’s two largest economies two more months of breathing room before their leaders meet again. But it is a pause, not a settlement: the licensing rules China imposed in April 2025 on seven medium and heavy rare earths were never suspended and remain in force. Earlier in the day, some outlets had reported that Beijing published no extension; the Monday announcement changed that.

What happened on Monday

MOFCOM and the customs administration said the suspension would continue from November 11, 2026, to January 10, 2027. The Profiler, reporting Reuters, quoted the ministry’s words directly:

“With approval, from November 11, 2026, to January 10, 2027, the implementation of Announcements No. 55, 56, 57 and 58 of 2025 issued by the Ministry of Commerce and the General Administration of Customs, and Announcements No. 61 and 62 of 2025 issued by the Ministry of Commerce will continue to be suspended.”

The same day brought matching extensions. The tariff commission said the suspension of an additional 24 percent tariff on US goods would run for two more months, from 1:01 pm Beijing time on Tuesday, while a 10 percent blanket tariff stays in place, Bloomberg reported. Suspensions affecting 11 US firms on China’s unreliable entities list and 16 on its export control list run to January 10, 2027, Reuters reported.

What the pause covers

Rare earths are a group of 17 metallic elements used in small amounts across modern manufacturing: in the powerful magnets inside electric vehicles, wind turbines and electronics, in lasers and lighting, and in defence and aerospace equipment. The October 2025 measures now paused again cover five of them — holmium, erbium, thulium, europium and ytterbium — plus certain processing technologies and equipment.

The suspension also covers additional restrictions on certain lithium batteries, graphite materials and products made abroad using Chinese rare earths. The last is the widest-reaching piece. Under Announcement No. 61, the “0.1% rule”, a listed foreign-made product needs a Chinese export licence if Chinese-origin rare earths make up 0.1 percent or more of its value — so the rule reaches goods assembled in other countries containing Chinese rare-earth material, and while the suspension runs, it does not apply.

What was never paused

The extension is narrower than it first sounds. China’s April 2025 licensing rules on seven medium and heavy rare earths — samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium — were never part of the suspension, and they stay in force whatever happens in January.

Those seven matter more than the five in the paused package, because they include the heavy rare earths that make high-performance magnets work in hot environments. Neodymium-iron-boron magnets need small amounts of dysprosium and terbium to keep working at high temperatures, and those elements sit in motors for robots, drones and electric vehicles, and in defence systems. Magnets containing terbium or dysprosium are themselves controlled items under the April rules.

Japan shows what the April rules mean in practice. Chinese customs data show yttrium oxide exports to Japan were 4,000 kilograms in September, against 51,000 kilograms a year earlier. A Japanese industry ministry official said exports of yttrium had stalled worldwide, causing a “supply-demand crunch”, and the Financial Times reported Tokyo was months away from running out. Monday’s announcement changes none of that.

Why November 10 mattered

China introduced export controls on certain rare earths in April 2025 and widened them sharply on October 9, 2025. On November 7, 2025, MOFCOM and the customs administration issued Announcement No. 70, suspending those six October notices for a year, until November 10, 2026.

That suspension followed the October 2025 summit between China’s President Xi Jinping and United States President Donald Trump in Busan, South Korea, after which the two sides paused their trade confrontation for a year. The truce was due to expire on November 10, 2026 — the same day the legal suspension ran out. On the text of the law, the six suspended notices would simply have started applying again from November 11 in Beijing, while a reprieve needed a published notice.

This is where the conflicting reports come in. TechTimes, in an article published on November 9, reported that the latest independent review of MOFCOM announcements, published on Saturday, November 7, had found no numbered notice changing the November 10 date — so in law, the pause ended on Tuesday and Beijing had published no extension. MOFCOM’s September 28 statement confirming the wider truce to January 10 did not name export controls, rare earths or Announcement No. 70.

Monday’s announcement resolves that conflict: two independent reports — ASTIG and The Profiler — cite Reuters and MOFCOM, and The Profiler quotes the ministry’s own wording, including the dates and the six announcement numbers. What has not been independently verified is whether a numbered MOFCOM notice formally amending Announcement No. 70 has itself been published on the ministry’s website. That detail is worth watching, not a reason to doubt the announcement.

The wider truce and the January deadline

The rare-earth pause sits inside a wider US-China trade truce that now also runs to January 10, 2027. After the September 24 summit between Trump and Xi, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the truce would run to January 10, and MOFCOM confirmed on September 28 that the wider arrangement would run to the same date. Monday’s statements formalised what those September statements had promised.

Both sides have also proposed a US$60 billion package of reciprocal tariff cuts, including about US$17 billion of US farm goods, according to ASTIG — but it has not been finalised. Last week, Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer spoke with Vice Premier He Lifeng, and Greer’s office said he stressed “concrete actions” on agricultural purchases, rare earths and other critical minerals. China said it would watch US plans to replace tariffs struck down by the Supreme Court with Section 301 duties, and warned it may adjust its countermeasures.

The January 10 date is therefore a deadline for a longer deal, not a settlement. Before it arrives, Trump and Xi are expected to meet at the APEC summit in Shenzhen on November 18–19. A separate pause, under MOFCOM Announcement No. 72, covers dual-use gallium, germanium and antimony shipments to the United States until November 27, 2026.

What it means for manufacturers and markets

For manufacturers, Monday’s news removes an immediate cliff edge but changes little about the underlying supply picture. China dominates the middle of the rare-earth supply chain — the separation and refining that turns mined ore into usable oxides, metals and magnets — far more than it dominates mining. Skillings estimates, cited by Global Sources, put China’s share of global separation and refining capacity at 85 to 90 percent.

The trade data show the truce has not restored normal flows. Chinese magnet exports to the United States were 512 tonnes in August 2026, down 20 percent from July and 13 percent from August 2025, the Financial Times reported. Shipments to all destinations were 5,010 tonnes in August, down 6 percent on the month and 18 percent on the year, according to Shanghai Metals Market. Licensing is slow: decisions are due within 45 working days, but approvals have often taken months.

As Global Sources put it, the suspension is a pause, not a permanent repeal: Beijing can reintroduce licensing restrictions whenever it chooses. Reuters has reported that some Chinese suppliers have kept refusing shipments to US customers even while the pause was in force. Alternatives are growing, but years from replacing Chinese volume: MP Materials has completed General Motors’ qualification process for magnets from its Texas plant, yet one plant is only “the beginning of an alternative, not a replacement”. The US International Development Finance Corporation has committed US$62.8 million to rare-earth projects in Malawi, Angola, Madagascar and South Africa, though none has started production.

Defence buyers face the tightest calendar. From January 1, 2027, US contractors cannot deliver systems containing samarium-cobalt or neodymium-iron-boron magnets if any stage of the supply chain took place in China, Russia, Iran or North Korea, and the Pentagon will stop issuing non-availability waivers without an accepted mitigation plan — barely three weeks before the January 10 truce deadline.

The wider backdrop is unsettled too. The US labour market stayed resilient, with 165,000 jobs added in October, but tariff uncertainty hangs over trade between the two largest economies, and Brent crude has fallen below $94.

What is confirmed and what is not

Confirmed: on Monday, November 9, MOFCOM and the customs administration announced the suspension of Announcements No. 55, 56, 57, 58, 61 and 62 of 2025 will continue from November 11, 2026, to January 10, 2027, as reported by Reuters. Confirmed: the additional 24 percent tariff on US goods stays suspended for two months, a 10 percent blanket tariff remains, and the April 2025 licensing of seven rare earths was never suspended. Confirmed: Chinese magnet exports to the US were 512 tonnes in August 2026, and yttrium oxide exports to Japan were 4,000 kilograms in September, against 51,000 kilograms a year earlier.

Not confirmed: whether a numbered MOFCOM notice formally amending Announcement No. 70 has been published; whether there will be any grace period for goods already in transit, since Announcement No. 70 contains no clause on it; and whether January 10 becomes a lasting settlement or just another short extension.

What happens next

Trump and Xi are expected to meet at APEC in Shenzhen on November 18–19, and the proposed US$60 billion tariff-cut package still needs finalising. On November 27, the separate suspension under Announcement No. 72 expires. On January 1, 2027, the US defence sourcing rule takes effect. And on January 10, 2027, the rare-earth pause, the tariff suspension and the wider truce all reach their deadline together.

To watch: any numbered MOFCOM notice amending Announcement No. 70; licence approval rates and shipment data for dysprosium, terbium and yttrium; and whether the general licences of three large magnet makers are renewed when they lapse around December. Monday’s extension buys two months, not certainty.

Frequently asked questions

Has China lifted its rare-earth export controls?

No. China has extended a suspension of additional controls introduced in October 2025, from November 11, 2026, to January 10, 2027. The April 2025 licensing rules on seven medium and heavy rare earths were never suspended and remain in force.

Which rare earths are still restricted?

Seven medium and heavy rare earths under the April 2025 rules: samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium. The five in the paused October 2025 package — holmium, erbium, thulium, europium and ytterbium — are covered by the extension instead.

What is the 0.1% rule?

Under Announcement No. 61, a listed foreign-made product needs a Chinese export licence if Chinese-origin rare earths make up 0.1 percent or more of its value. It reaches goods assembled outside China containing Chinese rare-earth material, and it is suspended until January 10, 2027.

Why did some reports say Beijing had published no extension?

Because, until Monday’s announcement, that was correct: reviews of MOFCOM announcements up to November 7 found no numbered notice amending Announcement No. 70. The Monday, November 9 announcement, reported by Reuters and quoting MOFCOM’s own wording, changed that position.

What happens on January 10, 2027?

The rare-earth pause, the suspension of the additional 24 percent tariff on US goods, and the wider US-China trade truce all expire on that date. Unless a longer deal is agreed before then — the next leaders’ meeting is at APEC in Shenzhen on November 18–19 — the suspended controls would again apply.