US and allies to prepare 'fulsome group response' to China's export curbs on rare earth minerals: Bessent

Washington: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday said that the US will speak with its allies, including India, to prepare a "fulsome group response" to China's export restrictions on rare earth minerals.

China, which virtually holds a monopoly over the rare earth materials, recently announced further export controls for mining and processing the minerals, alleging that unnamed foreign firms are using its supplies for military purposes.

Beijing’s move angered US President Donald Trump, who threatened 100 per cent tariffs against Chinese goods.

"We’re going to be speaking with our European allies, with Australia, with Canada, with India and the Asian democracies," Bessent told CNBC on Wednesday.

"And we’re going to have a fulsome group response to this because bureaucrats in China cannot manage the supply chain or the manufacturing process for the rest of the world," he added.

China accounts for about 70 per cent of the world’s rare earths mining but at the same time controls about 90 per cent of their processing, which makes it virtually the sole supplier of the precious metals used in a host of modern equipment, including automobiles, electronics, wind energy and defence.

China’s rare-earth metals are much in demand as the US, the European Union, and India are its top importers.

In an interview with Fox Business on Monday, Bessent said that Washington expects support from India and other allied nations.

“This is China versus the world,” he said. “They have pointed a bazooka at the supply chains and the industrial base of the entire free world,” he said.

"We have already been in touch with the allies. We will be meeting with them this week and, you know, I expect that we will get substantial global support from the Europeans, from the Indians, from the democracies in Asia,” Bessent added.