Europe’s health care system, rearmament, green and digital transitions, and overall industrial base depend on secure – and often indirect – access to critical raw materials dominated by China.
Through export controls on rare earths, gallium, germanium and other materials, Beijing has disrupted European industrial production, extracted commercially and militarily sensitive information, and raised the costs for Europe to respond to China’s assertive pursuit of its “core interests” – including growing military pressure on Taiwan.
Following a US–China meeting on 30 October, President Xi promised to postpone the introduction of new export controls by one year and to issue “general licenses” for critical material shipments to American, European and other industries.
But will Beijing keep its word? Have the US and China found a way out of the crisis, or will it present itself again? And what does this new uncertainty mean for Europe’s efforts to de-risk its dependence on China?
Joris Teer and Giuseppe Spatafora explored the strategic, industrial and geopolitical implications of this uncertain truce, and what Europe can do to secure its access to the resources powering its future, in a new episode of "Europe Responds"
