European Commission’s trade chief Maros Sefcovic Says China Starts Granting General Licenses for Rare Earths

EU DG Trade Commissioner insist China has started granting licenses with lengthier terms to allow European companies to obtain critical minerals essential for industries including clean tech, automakers and defense contractors. Officials in Brussels have argued that licenses valid for a year would help ease bottlenecks in an application process that has threatened to cripple German carmakers and other vital industries. Since April, Beijing now has granted around 70% of the requests for licenses, Sefcovic said, up from an earlier estimate of 50%.