American automaker Ford Motors is still struggling to get the volume of rare earth magnets it needs to keep up normal production due to a slow pace of approvals from China, according to a report by the Washington Post.
China has been blocking exports of some crucial rare earths, and the magnets made out of them, since April, when it introduced a licensing system to oversee their trade. Beijing has said the export curbs are aimed at protecting its “national security” but the move has widely been seen as retaliation against US President Donald Trump’s tariff war.
Early this month, China and the US agreed to a truce in the trade war, which included China resuming its shipments of rare earths and magnets to the country. But a Ford executive said this week that while the situation had improved, China’s approval process was still much slower than what the industry needed.
“It’s hand to mouth” Lisa Drake, a vice president overseeing Ford’s industrial planning for batteries and electric vehicles, told reporters, according to the WSJ report. Ford still needed to “move things around” to avoid manufacturing shutdowns, Drake said.
The trouble at Ford persists even after its suppliers were among the first that China cleared for some rare earth export licences this month. Meanwhile, Ford is not the only carmaker to struggle with its rare earth supplies, WSJ noted.
Several other carmakers have raised concerns about the slow pace of China’s export control licences, it said.
Read the full report: Wall Street Journal
- Vishakha Saxena
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