Beijing expanded controls on the trade of these strategic minerals on Thursday by adding five new elements—europium, holmium, erbium, thulium, and ytterbium—and reinforcing scrutiny over their end uses amidst renewed trade tensions with the United States.
In a statement, Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs emphasized that the newly covered elements “do not coincide with the rare earths used in semiconductor manufacturing processes in Taiwan,” estimating thus a minimal impact.
The ministry noted that “the rare earth products and derivatives currently used by the domestic industry originate mainly from Europe, the United States, and Japan.”
It added that it would continue to monitor “the evolution of raw material costs and potential effects of changes in the supply chain.”
Regarding the expanded control over elements like samarium, terbium, and dysprosium—crucial rare earths in the production of permanent magnets for high-efficiency electric motors—Taipei acknowledged that Beijing’s initial restrictions, imposed in April, “had already caused delays in acquisition timelines and price increases.”
“The new expansion could affect the global supply chains of sectors such as electric vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), and thus the effects should continue to be closely monitored,” the ministry warned, further promising to support local companies in “the development and recycling of technologies related to rare earths,” as well as in promoting the diversification of supply sources.
Taiwan, home to TSMC—the world’s largest advanced chip manufacturer—plays a central role in global technology product supply chains and has an economy heavily dependent on exports of semiconductors and other electronic devices.
