Taiwan would work with the US and Japan on a proposed cooperation initiative in response to Beijing’s newly announced rare earth export curbs, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday.
China last week announced new restrictions requiring companies to obtain export licenses if their products contain more than 0.1 percent of Chinese-origin rare earths by value.
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent on Wednesday responded by saying that Beijing was “unreliable” in its rare earths exports, adding that the US would “neither be commanded, nor controlled” by China, several media outlets reported.
Photo: AFP
Japanese Minister of Finance Katsunobu Kato yesterday also voiced concern over the latest export controls, emphasizing the importance of coordinated action among G7 nations, Bloomberg News reported.
Beijing’s restrictions would have only an indirect impact on Taiwan, as it neither mines nor refines the materials itself, but imports most rare earths from Japan and most equipment from the US or Europe, Kung said.
As the US and Japan have proposed cooperation initiatives to address the situation, Taiwan would work with them if needed to ensure the stability of the local supply chain, he said.
Taiwan would also assist manufacturers in refining the material from discarded electric appliances, he added.
Before the curbs were announced, the government had already been planning to promote a circular economy program with the Ministry of Environment, Kung said.
While the ministries had originally scheduled the initiative for 2028, they have decided to move it up to next year, he said.
The ministry had expected the plan to meet one-third of domestic demand — about 1.5 tonnes per year — by 2031, but as the situation has become more urgent, it has decided to move that target to 2030, he said.
As the Industrial Technology Research Institute already has related technology and can refine at a kilogram level in laboratories, the ministry plans to scale up capacity and transfer the technology to corporations and manufacturers, Kung said.
Some manufacturers have already expressed interest in the project, he said, without naming them.
Regarding an initiative proposed by the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association and other industry groups in establishing high-tech parks overseas, Kung said the government is evaluating potential sites.
Kung inspected a site in Clark in the Philippines’ Northern Luzon region, with officials from the association and the Chinese National Federation of Industries, both of which expressed a willingness to set up a park there, citing the Philippines’ proximity to Taiwan and a favorable investment environment, he said.
The association earlier announced plans to set up parks in Mexico, a proposal that has moved into the implementation phase, with many manufacturers already establishing plants in the country, he said.
The association and the government are still considering where to set up a park in the US, as Arizona would be suitable solely for chip manufacturing, but more options are available for leading contract manufacturers, he said.
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