The EU Eyes a Transatlantic Pact Against China’s Rare Earth Squeeze

In the Danish town of Horsens, under the grey northern sky, European ministers gathered in quiet urgency. The conversation, though diplomatic in tone, carried the sharpness of necessity: how to respond to Beijing’s latest tightening of control over rare earth exports—minerals that have become the unseen veins of modern industry.

China, long the undisputed master of rare earth production, had just expanded its web of restrictions. New elements were added to the list, refinements were placed under surveillance, and semiconductor manufacturers found themselves facing a new gauntlet of scrutiny. The timing was deliberate, preceding a high-stakes dialogue between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.

From Brussels, the European Trade Commissioner arrived with words that cut through the polite phrasing of diplomacy. Europe, he declared, would not accept being bound by Beijing’s arbitrary levers. Around the table, ministers described the moment as a critical juncture—a test of the bloc’s capacity to act with unity and weight.

The memory of April’s disruption still lingered: China’s earlier export limits had thrown global supply chains into disarray. Automakers, battery producers, and electronics firms had scrambled for alternatives until temporary deals with Washington and Brussels patched over the worst of the crisis. Those stopgaps, though, had bought time—not security.

Now, the conversation turned toward coordination at the highest levels. Finance ministers from the G7 were expected to confer within days, and a transatlantic video summit was already being drafted. The goal was not mere rhetoric but a strategic front—to align policies, to share intelligence, and to remind the world that economic interdependence need not mean submission.

At the same time, European envoys prepared for dialogue with Beijing itself. Diplomacy, after all, remains a language Europe still believes in. Denmark’s foreign minister, speaking with quiet conviction, urged a dual approach: firmness without recklessness, solidarity without hostility. Europe, he reminded his peers, remains the largest trading bloc on Earth—a giant that too often forgets its own strength.

Across the ocean, Washington’s first impulse was blunter. The White House floated the idea of 100 percent tariffs, sending tremors through Wall Street and ripples across global markets. European officials, wary of escalation, preferred a more deliberate course—one that could reinforce pressure without fracturing the system that still sustains their prosperity.

Beneath the rhetoric, a deeper realization was settling in: the age of mineral complacency is over. Europe, long content to rely on imports for its technological foundations, now faces the hard truth that autonomy cannot be improvised. Discussions began about joint G7 ventures to mine, refine, and process critical minerals outside China’s reach.

Such projects will take years—perhaps a decade—to bear fruit. Yet the message from Beijing had been unambiguous. The clock has started ticking, and every delay now translates into vulnerability. Europe’s challenge is no longer one of awareness but of will: to act swiftly enough to matter, yet wisely enough to endure.

Source: Reuters via Investing.com (14 October 2025)