The EU is developing a new plan to curb its reliance on Chinese critical raw materials, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Saturday, as she criticized Beijing for its expanded restrictions on the export of rare earths.
The EU has for years attempted to reduce its dependence on China for the minerals that are needed for the transition to cleaner energy, the defense sector and electric vehicle production.
Von der Leyen said the EU would seek to speed up critical raw materials partnerships with countries such as Australia, Canada, Chile, Greenland, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine.
Photo: Bloomberg
The plan would also include greater efforts to recycle critical raw materials in products sold in Europe, she said.
“The aim is to secure access to alternative sources of critical raw materials in the short, medium and long term for our European industries,” she told a conference in Berlin.
The scheme, called RESourceEU, would be similar to a plan the EU developed after Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine to cut its reliance on Russian energy, known as REPowerEU, she said.
“We will focus on everything from joint purchasing to stockpiling. We will boost investment in strategic projects for the production and processing of critical raw materials here in the European Union,” she added.
On Oct. 9, China imposed export restrictions on rare earths and battery materials. Western governments and analysts view the increased curbs as part of China’s response to trade tariffs imposed by the US.
However, Von der Leyen said it also had a huge impact on Europe, in industrial sectors, including automotive, defense, aerospace, artificial intelligence chips and data centers.
“If you consider that over 90 percent of our consumption of rare earth magnets comes from imports from China, you see the risks here for Europe and its most strategic industrial sectors,” she said.
“In the short term, we are focusing on finding solutions with our Chinese counterparts, but we are ready to use all of the instruments in our toolbox to respond if needed,” she added.
AI BOOST: Although Taiwan’s reliance on Chinese rare earth elements is limited, it could face indirect impacts from supply issues and price volatility, an economist said DBS Bank Ltd (星展銀行) has sharply raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth this year to 5.6 percent, citing stronger-than-expected exports and investment linked to artificial intelligence (AI), as it said that the current momentum could peak soon. The acceleration of the global AI race has fueled a surge in Taiwan’s AI-related capital spending and exports of information and communications technology (ICT) products, which have been key drivers of growth this year. “We have revised our GDP forecast for Taiwan upward to 5.6 percent from 4 percent, an upgrade that mainly reflects stronger-than-expected AI-related exports and investment in the third
Mercuries Life Insurance Co (三商美邦人壽) shares surged to a seven-month high this week after local media reported that E.Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控) had outbid CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控) in the financially strained insurer’s ongoing sale process. Shares of the mid-sized life insurer climbed 5.8 percent this week to NT$6.72, extending a nearly 18 percent rally over the past month, as investors bet on the likelihood of an impending takeover. The final round of bidding closed on Thursday, marking a critical step in the 32-year-old insurer’s search for a buyer after years of struggling to meet capital adequacy requirements. Local media reports
TECHNOLOGICAL RIVALRY: The artificial intelligence chip competition among multiple players would likely intensify over the next two years, a Quanta official said Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), which makes servers and laptops on a contract basis, yesterday said its shipments of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s GB300 chips have increased steadily since last month, should surpass those of the GB200 models this quarter. The production of GB300 servers has gone much more smoothly than that of the GB200, with shipments projected to increase sharply next month, Quanta executive vice president Mike Yang (楊麒令) said on the sidelines of a technology forum in Taipei. While orders for GB200 servers gradually decrease, the production transition between the two server models has been
ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), the world’s largest integrated circuit (IC) packaging and testing supplier, yesterday announced a strategic collaboration with Analog Devices Inc (ADI), coupled with the signing of a binding memorandum of understanding. Under the agreement, ASE intends to purchase 100 percent shares of Analog Devices Sdn Bhd and acquire its manufacturing facility in Penang, Malaysia, a press release showed. The ADI Penang facility is located in the prime industrial hub of Bayan Lepas, with an area of over 680,000 square feet, it said. In addition, the two sides intend to enter into a long-term supply agreement for ASE to
RSS