In October 2025, Beijing significantly expanded its export controls on rare earths and for the first time publicly asserted extraterritorial jurisdiction, requiring foreign exporters to obtain Chinese government approval to export items containing even trace amounts of Chinese-origin rare earths, including goods manufactured entirely outside China.38 Those controls have since been partially suspended following bilateral negotiations, but the architecture remains in place and can be reactivated. Apple’s iPhones contain dysprosium in their vibration motors and a range of other rare earth elements in their displays and speakers. Moving the final assembly out of China does nothing to address that dependency.
~ Isaac Stone Fish via American Affairs

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