China’s decision to impose export controls on rare earths was a “mistake” and drew attention to Beijing’s ability to use them as a coercive tool, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview published Saturday.Beijing announced new controls in October on exports of technologies related to rare earths, crucial for manufacturing in defence, automobile, consumer electronics and other industries.The restrictions were a major sticking point in trade negotiations between Beijing and Washington, and China said it would halt them after presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump met this week.In an interview with the Financial Times, Bessent said: “China has alerted everyone to the danger. They’ve made a real mistake.””It’s one thing to put the gun on the table. It’s another thing to fire shots in the air,” Bessent said.Xi and Trump met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in the South Korea this week.Following the talks, China said it would suspend certain export restrictions, including on rare-earth materials, for one year.The controls had rattled markets and snarled supply chains in the strategic sector, a key source of international leverage for Beijing.Bessent told the FT that China would not be able to pull the same move again, saying: “We have offsetting measures.””I think the Chinese leadership were slightly alarmed by the global backlash to their export controls,” he said.

China said Saturday it will exempt some Nexperia chips from an export ban that has alarmed European businesses, days after trade talks between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies.Anxiety over chip shortages began when Dutch officials invoked a Cold War-era law in late September to effectively take control of Nexperia, whose parent company Wingtech is backed by the Chinese government.China in response banned any re-exports of Nexperia chips to Europe and accused the United States of meddling in Dutch legal procedures to remove Nexperia’s Chinese CEO.”We will comprehensively consider the actual situation of enterprises and grant exemptions to exports that meet the criteria,” a Chinese commerce ministry spokesperson said in a statement.The resumption of some Nexperia shipments was part of a trade deal agreed by Chinese President Xi Jinping and his American counterpart Donald Trump after talks in South Korea on Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported citing unnamed sources.Chinese and European Union officials were also to discuss Nexperia while meeting in Brussels the same day, EU spokesman Olof Gill had said.Nexperia produces relatively simple technologies such as diodes, voltage regulators and transistors that are nonetheless crucial, as vehicles increasingly rely on electronics.The chips are mainly found in cars but also in a wide range of industrial components as well as consumer and mobile electronics like refrigerators.The company makes them in Europe before sending them to China for finishing and then re-exporting them back to European clients.- Automaker anxiety -European carmakers and parts suppliers had warned of chip shortages supplied by Nexperia that would force stoppages at production lines in Europe.The chipmaker supplies 49 percent of the electronic components used in the European automotive industry, according to German financial daily Handelsblatt.The European auto lobby ACEA warned last month that production would be seriously hit.”Without these chips, European automotive suppliers cannot build the parts and components needed to supply vehicle manufacturers and this therefore threatens production stoppages,” the group said.Nexperia’s chips, while widely used, are not “unique” in terms of technology and therefore “easily substitutable”, French parts maker OPmobility said.But suppliers must get the new products approved by automakers, which takes time.Beijing suggested on Saturday some shipments would resume.Companies who were experiencing difficulties could contact the ministry or local commerce authorities, the Chinese ministry spokesperson said.