Ford Production Could Once Again Be Impacted By Rare Earths Restrictions

Back in April, China opted to suspend exports of various minerals and rare earth magnets to other countries as that country’s government worked to draft a new regulatory system. Trouble is, those materials are needed for electric vehicles and various other components, such as steering systems, headlights, spark plugs, and capacitors, which are used in a wide berth of electronic items, and China controls around 99 percent of the world’s supply of them. Ford production was impacted as a result, and now, it could be impacted yet again by this very same issue.

According to CNBC, China’s Commerce Ministry recently announced that it plans to expand restrictions on critical rare earth exports and related technologies in an effort to prevent the misuse of such materials in military applications, as well as other sensitive areas. China has previously reached an agreement that was allegedly going to fast-track shipments to Europe, but the automotive industry there has faced multiple production disruptions resulting from shortages, regardless.

“The fact is that the Chinese export restrictions on rare earths and permanent magnets implemented in April this year have already significantly exacerbated the supply situation for rare earths and strategic materials. The new measures now go even further,” the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) said in a statement. The organization added that China’s new regulations will have “far-reaching consequences for deliveries of the affected products to Germany and Europe.”

Ford has already felt the effects of these decisions, initially pausing production of the Ford Explorer at the Chicago Assembly plant for one week after it ran out of rare earth magnets this past May. Ford CEO Jim Farley later revealed that the automaker had to shut down additional factories as a result of this issue, though some Blue Oval suppliers were granted rare earth export licenses from China in June.