China’s Global Exports of Rare Earth Elements and Rare Earth Permanent Magnets

China continued to heavily restrict global exports of export-controlled rare earth compounds and metals in July 2026.

China’s global exports of rare earth compounds and metals covered by the PRC’s April 2025 export controls remained well below historical levels.

• U.S.-bound exports increased slightly in July 2026, though they remain below 2024 levels.
• China’s exports to Japan remained at zero in July 2026, continuing the trend of limited exports to Japan since China imposed additional export controls on shipments to Japan in January.
• Conversely, China’s exports to South Korea exceeded pre-export control levels in July 2026 as the country remained the largest global destination for China’s exports of compounds and metals.

China’s exports of rare earth magnets , which are only partially covered by China’s April 2025 export controls, have largely returned to pre-export control levels.

• Among major export destinations, only the United States received a smaller volume of rare earth magnets in the first half of 2026 than in the first half of 2024.
• However, in July 2026 China’s exports to the United States reached pre-export control levels for the first time since October 2025.
• U.S. import data for sintered neodymium-iron-boron magnets (NdFeB) indicate that U.S. imports from all countries remain down by weight in the first half of 2026, though the number of magnets the U.S. imported is above 2024 levels. China is, on average, shipping smaller sintered NdFeB magnets to the United States, while imports from Japan and the European Union appear to consist of larger sintered NdFeB magnets than before the start of China’s export controls.