Highlights
- U.S. President Donald Trump extends tariff pause with China.
- New tariffs launched on 14 countries, primarily in Southeast Asia.
- Tariffs range from 25% to 40%.
- Strategically target nations with close economic ties to China.
- The move could significantly disrupt rare earth mineral supply chains.
- Potential impact on geopolitical trade relationships.
In a dramatic turn for global trade, U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order extending a temporary pause on “reciprocal” tariffs with China (opens in a new tab) until August 1, while simultaneously launching new tariffs of up to 40% on 14 nations, many of which are China’s strategic trade allies across Southeast Asia and beyond.
See the tariffs by country:
- Japan (25%)
- Korea (25%)
- South Africa (30%)
- Kazakhstan (25%)
- Laos (40%)
- Malaysia (25%)
- Myanmar (40%)
- Tunisia (25%)
- Bosnia and Herzegovina (30%)
- Indonesia (32%)
- Bangladesh (35%)
- Serbia (35%)
- Cambodia (36%)
- Thailand (36%)
“The message is clear,” said Xu Weijun (opens in a new tab) of South China University of Technology. “Countries seen as cooperative—like Vietnam—are rewarded. Others face the full weight of decoupling.”
For rare earth markets, the implications are immediate and far-reaching. The tariffs appear designed to fracture China’s regional value chains, particularly those involving critical mineral processing hubs in Southeast Asia that often act as intermediaries for Chinese-origin rare earths. The entry (opens in a new tab) in the South China Morning Post suggests so.
REEx Analysis
- Could these tariffs disrupt indirect Chinese rare earth exports routed through ASEAN states?
- Will Beijing retaliate by tightening rare earth oxide or magnet exports, especially to firms based in “penalized” nations?
- Is this the moment for Western producers—like MP Materials, Lynas Rare Earths, and REEMF projects—to capture displaced demand?
Investors should watch how China recalibrates supply routes and whether alternative partners (e.g., Indonesia, Malaysia, or the UAE) will double down on rare earth separation projects to shield against trade fallout.
This tariff package may also test the resilience of U.S. and allied rare earth strategies, especially as they race to build processing and magnet-making capacity outside China.
Trump’s latest tariffs are more than a trade lever—they’re a geopolitical scalpel, cutting through China’s economic alliances and shaking the foundations of regional rare earth supply chains.
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