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November 12, 2025
 

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RARE EARTHS

A sample of gallium. China produces over 90% of the world's processed rare earths and rare earth magnets.
BUSINESS
Nov 8, 2025
China starts work on easing rare earth export rules but short of Trump hopes
China is working on easing rare earth export rules, but Washington shouldn't hope for a complete rollback of restrictions, industry insiders said.
Satellite view of Minamitorishima Island
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2025
Japan and U.S. to join forces to mine rare earths near Pacific island
The move comes after the two allies struck an agreement to work together to cut their reliance on China for the critical material.
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters on Air Force One after his meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea, on Oct. 30. During their talks, the two leaders discussed the suspension of rare-earth export controls by China and other issues.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 5, 2025
What Chinese leaders really think of Trump
The Chinese view is that we are entering a prolonged phase of counter-globalization.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea, on Oct. 30. Tokyo's strategic positioning between Beijing and Washington is central to countering China’s economic and geopolitical influence.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 5, 2025
What the U.S.-China summit means for Japan
China’s willingness to weaponize commercial dependencies rather than projecting strength exposed the fragility of its economic statecraft.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping leave after a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Busan, South Korea, on Thursday.
COMMENTARY
Nov 4, 2025
The U.S. had the spotlight. China stole the show.
Xi’s diplomacy rests on the idea that China represents a "non-Western form of modernization.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump during a bilateral meeting in Busan on Thursday
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 3, 2025
China to suspend some rare earth curbs and U.S. chip firm probes
Washington will also pause some of Trump's so-called reciprocal tariffs on China for another year and is halting plans to implement a 100% tariff on Chinese exports to the U.S.
Annealed neodymium iron boron magnets in a barrel at a factory in China
BUSINESS
Oct 28, 2025
Rare-earth producers look to U.S.-led boom to blunt China’s power
U.S. companies are working to expand supplies of the tiny but vital industrial components at the heart of a global trade showdown.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2019.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 23, 2025
Hopes for Xi-Trump summit dampened by tough Beijing moves and rising tension
Even if the talks get back on track, experts say a narrow deal on a few issues is the most likely outcome.
A sample of monazite, a mineral used in the rare-earth industry to extract elements such as cerium, lanthanum, and neodymium, is displayed at the Geological Museum of China in Beijing on Oct. 14.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 21, 2025
'They can shut us down in two months': Carmakers race China's rare-earths curbs
Most motors that don't rely on rare earths are years away, as are efforts to develop new rare-earth mines and processing plants outside China, industry experts say.
The U.S.-China trade war has escalated as both sides use economic leverage, with China asserting dominance over rare earths to retaliate against U.S. tariffs, while the U.S. seeks a collective global response and long-term strategy to reduce dependency on China's supply chains.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 21, 2025
This is what a real trade war looks like
China has leverage over trading partners every bit as powerful as what Trump seeks to wield.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks with U.S. President Donald Trump during a meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 21, 2025
Trump and Australia's Albanese sign critical minerals deal to counter China
The U.S. president also backed the AUKUS strategic nuclear-powered submarine deal with Australia to bolster security in the Indo-Pacific.
Magnetic slices made from rare earth metals. Beijing last week announced a sweeping set of rules that are set to restrict the flow of rare earths worldwide.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 20, 2025
China’s rare earth restrictions aim to beat U.S. at its own game
The impacts of the Chinese licensing system would be much broader than U.S. technology controls, which have targeted only more advanced computer chips.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato meet in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 16, 2025
Japan’s Kato calls for G7 unity over China’s rare earth curbs
"Japan is deeply concerned about these measures,” Kato told reporters in Washington on Wednesday, referring to China’s latest trade measures.
A Chinese trade delegation in Madrid for talks with its U.S. counterpart holds a news conference on Sept. 15. Rare earths, along with tariffs and other key issues, will define the next phase of the China-U.S. rivalry as both sides escalate tensions, vie for leverage and leave room for tactical negotiation.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 16, 2025
The Sino-U.S. economic cage match heats up
Notwithstanding momentary attempts at detente, the long-term path is toward competitive confrontation.
A barrel of annealed neodymium iron boron magnets prior to being crushed into powder in Tianjin, China, on June 11, 2010.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 15, 2025
China flexes superpower status using rare earths in global supply chain grab
The true impact is yet unknown but the move already has companies and policymakers considering countermeasures and alternative suppliers.
U.S. President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up while boarding Air Force One, as he departs for Israel, at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Sunday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 13, 2025
Trump and Vance open door to China deal as trade spat drags on
Remarks by the two suggest that the U.S. wants to keep up the pressure on China to reverse its most recent trade moves, while trying to reassure spooked markets.
U.S. President Donald Trump addresses hundreds of American generals and admirals summoned to the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia, on Sept. 30.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Oct 12, 2025
Trump’s dealmaking diplomacy grows fragile as China fires back
The sudden, and unexpected, back-and-forth between the world’s two largest economies came just weeks ahead of a consequential meeting between the U.S. and Chinese leaders.
A container ship sails at the port in Qingdao, China, on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 12, 2025
China blames U.S. for raising trade tensions and defends rare earth curbs
Beijing's decision not to immediately respond to Trump's opening salvo could leave the door open for both countries to negotiate a deescalation.
A worker waters the site of a rare earth metals mine in Nancheng county, in China's Jiangxi province, in January 2011.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Oct 11, 2025
The world’s chip supply chain is bracing for fallout from China’s rare-earth curbs
The restrictions represent the first major attempt by Beijing to exercise long-arm jurisdiction over foreign companies to target the semiconductor industry.
U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he walks to Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 11, 2025
Trump ratchets up U.S.-China trade war with new levies and export controls
The actions signaled the biggest rupture in relations in four months between Beijing and Washington — the world's biggest factory and its biggest consumer.
Tokyo ranked world’s richest city by GDP, with Osaka-Kobe also rated highly
Tokyo has a gross domestic product of $2.55 trillion, just ahead of New York’s $2.49 trillion and Greater Los Angeles’ $1.62 trillion, according to CEOWorld’s global wealth index.
Takaichi stands firm on controversial Taiwan contingency remarks
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi responds to questions during a session of the House of Representatives' Budget Committee in parliament in Tokyo on Monday.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years
Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Tokyo looks to keep ‘monster parents’ at bay with new protocols
New guidelines are addressing struggles by teachers to deal with the burden of parents who make irrational complaints that go beyond what is considered socially acceptable, often referred to as "monster parents," which is overwhelming their workload.
From France to Mali, a deportee's struggle far from home
Moussa Sacko, a Malian deported from France — where he had lived since he was a young child — stands on a street in Bamako, Mali, in December. Compared with his home in France, Bamako feels like a different planet, Sacko said.
Florist Nicolai Bergmann flourishes outside the box
Florist Nicolai Bergmann shops for fresh flowers at the Ota flower market in Tokyo on Friday.
Jenson Button brings end to an illustrious racing career intertwined with Japan
Jenson Button races for Honda during the Singapore Grand Prix in September 2008.
Cleanliness gets competitive at Tokyo’s Spogomi world cup
On Oct. 29, teams from 33 qualifying countries scoured the streets of Shibuya for all manners of trash as part of the Spogomi litter-picking competition.
Jon Homewood: ‘There’s beauty in what we throw away’
After a peripatetic childhood around the world, teacher and artist Jon Homewood ended up coming to Japan in 2012 for a professional opportunity.
High-speed rail is expensive and difficult, but seen as a key to growth
Achal Khare, former managing director at India’s National High Speed Rail Corporation, gives a presentation during the IHRA Forum 2025 in Tokyo on Oct. 23.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years
By Yukana Inoue

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