JournalPolicy
What ends on 10 November
China suspended its October 2025 export controls until 10 November 2026. As of 30 October no notice extends the suspension. China’s April 2025 controls on seven rare earths stay in force.
First published 28 October 2026. Updated 30 October 2026.
In October 2025 China widened its export controls on critical materials. A month later it suspended the new rules for a year. That year ends on 10 November 2026.1
What the October 2025 package covers
The package is six announcements by China’s commerce ministry (MOFCOM), four of them issued jointly with the General Administration of Customs (GACC). Announcement No. 70 of 2025 suspends all six until 10 November 2026.1 The notice names no country, so the suspension applies to every destination, buyers in the EU included.
| No. | What it covers |
|---|---|
| 55 | Superhard materials |
| 56 | Rare earth production equipment and auxiliary materials |
| 57 | Five more rare earths: holmium, erbium, thulium, europium and ytterbium |
| 58 | Lithium battery, cathode and synthetic graphite anode items |
| 61 | Licences for some foreign-made items with Chinese rare earths worth 0.1% or more of their value |
| 62 | Rare earth technologies |
What stays in force
Since April 2025 China has required licences to export seven rare earths (samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium) and magnet materials containing them. These controls were never suspended, although China has since issued general licences to some exporters.2
Rare earth shipments
About
50%
fall in yttrium, dysprosium and terbium shipments after April 2025
Source: Tech Times, Congress moves to break China rare earth grip before November deadline, 6 October 2026 (secondary source)
In June 2025, two months after the licences took effect, CLEPA, the association of European car parts suppliers, said several production lines and plants in Europe had shut. Only about a quarter of hundreds of licence applications had been approved.3 Shipments of yttrium, dysprosium and terbium fell about 50%. By May 2026 yttrium oxide outside China cost about US$1,100/kg, roughly 140 times its price before the controls. Both figures come from Tech Times, a secondary source.4
Export controls
China’s export controls on critical materials since 2023
Status as of 30 October 2026. No notice extending the October 2025 suspension has been published.
Source: MOFCOM and GACC announcements, including No. 70 of 2025 and No. 29 of 2026; USGS 2026; IEA 2026; CIRS; Fastmarkets.
What the 28 September statement says
On 28 September 2026 MOFCOM said that China and the United States had agreed to extend their Kuala Lumpur joint arrangement to 10 January 2027. Under that arrangement, reached in October 2025, both sides had suspended some tariff and non-tariff measures until 10 November 2026.5 The statement does not mention export controls or any announcement number. As of 30 October no new MOFCOM notice extends Announcement No. 70.1
A notice can come at the last minute. Announcement No. 70 was published on 7 November 2025 and took effect the same day.
What would change after 10 November
If the suspension is not extended, the six announcements would apply from 11 November. Exports of the listed items from China, including to the EU, would need a licence. Makers outside China would need a Chinese licence to export some rare earth items, such as certain magnets, if Chinese rare earths make up 0.1% or more of their value.1
What Europe has, and what is coming
China runs a fast-track channel for rare earth and magnet export licences to the EU, reconfirmed on 9 October 2026.6 On 20 October the European Parliament adopted its position on amending the Critical Raw Materials Act, by 470 votes to 83 with 108 abstentions. It asks for a Critical Raw Materials Centre with a €2bn fund in the EU budget for 2028 to 2034.7 Talks with member states were due to begin on 4 November.8
Two more dates follow. On 27 November China’s suspension of its ban on exports of gallium, germanium, antimony and superhard materials to the United States ends unless extended.9 On 10 January 2027 the extended Kuala Lumpur arrangement runs out.5
Sources
9
- MOFCOM and GACC, Announcement No. 70 of 2025, 7 November 2025; Pillsbury, China suspends export controls on certain critical minerals and related items, 13 November 2025
- USGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, rare earths
- CLEPA, Urgent action needed as China’s export restrictions on rare earths disrupt European automotive supply chains, 4 June 2025
- Tech Times, Congress moves to break China rare earth grip before November deadline, 6 October 2026 (secondary source)
- MOFCOM, head of the Department of American and Oceanian Affairs on the eighth round of China-US economic and trade consultations, 28 September 2026
- European Commission, Joint statement at the second meeting of the EU-China Trade and Investment Consultations, STATEMENT/26/2122, 9 October 2026
- Eunews, Parliament calls for a European centre for critical raw materials and restrictions on waste exports, 20 October 2026
- Council of the EU, document ST 15112/26, 28 October 2026
- MOFCOM, Announcement No. 72 of 2025, 9 November 2025
Cite and reuse
Hercinia (2026). What ends on 10 November. Journal, Europe’s Critical Materials Atlas, 30 October 2026. CC BY 4.0.
Text and charts are free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with this credit. Pictures and the logo are not covered; see the press kit.
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