China Rare Earth Mineral Exports: Motorcycle Makers Could be Hit
First was the chip shortage, now it's rare earth minerals restrictions from China that could hit the global automotive industry
China is set to curb exports of certain rare earth minerals as part of its retaliation against President Trump’s tariffs. The move could seriously impact the automotive industry, and that means motorcycle makers too.
If you cast your mind back a few years, three major events seriously affected the global motorcycle industry. The first, and arguably biggest, was the Covid-19 pandemic, with a knock-on effect of that being a global shortage of microchips. That caused further pain for automotive makers and delays for customers.
![By Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data [2021], processed by Pierre Markuse - Container Ship 'Ever Given' stuck in the Suez Canal, Egypt - March 24th, 2021, CC BY 2.0,](https://cdn.visordown.com/field/image/evergiven.jpg?width=1800)
And then, just as things were starting to get back to normal, the sucker punch that nobody needed was the Suez canal incident. A 400-metre-long, 224,000-ton container ship wedged in Europe's import lifeline to the east was just what the motorcycle industry really didn’t need. It was so bad that the then-boss of Yamaha Motor Europe, Eric de Seynes, took time to reach out to riders and dealers, in an attempt to calm the waters.
Well, it could be happening again, as China, one of the world’s biggest sources of rare earth minerals, has said it's going to begin limiting its exports of them. For clarity, Reuters reports that China produces around 90 per cent of the world’s rare earth minerals, with some of the most critical for automotive production being rare earth magnets.
They are used in everything from high-power electric motors for SUVs and sports cars, right down to smaller components like alternators and wiper motors. More than that, they are also used in things like solenoids, and on everything from premium stuff to cheap and cheerful bikes; they’re quite important to the operation of a vehicle.
The European Association of Automotive Suppliers has stated that operational outages could follow the move, something that is backed up by a statement from BMW. Reuters reports that a spokesperson for the Bavarian marque has claimed that its own plants are functioning normally, although the supply chain is already feeling the pinch.
With the production of drive motors for electric vehicles being most keenly affected by China’s actions, this latest spat in President Trump and Xi Jinping’s trade war could be terrible for the floundering electric motorcycle industry.
You may also like to read our best electric motorbikes article.
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Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!
