China's Yttrium Export Controls Pressure US as Aerospace Shortages Persist

In early 2025, China imposed export controls on yttrium and six other rare earths. Yttrium is a silver-coloured metal used in heat-resistant ceramic coatings for jet engines and power turbine blades, as well as in electronics and optics. China is the largest supplier of yttrium. After the controls took effect, deliveries to the United States were suspended for several months and have since resumed only sporadically, producing shortages across the aerospace, energy and semiconductor industries.

In October 2025, US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a meeting, and yttrium supplies stopped shortly afterwards. By February 2026, the shortage had caused production halts in the US coating supply chain. In March 2026, China shipped 60 tonnes of yttrium oxide to the United States; in July 2026, after another interruption in shipments, a further 29 tonnes of yttrium oxide arrived in the country.

Beyond yttrium, China has also restricted supplies of gallium, germanium, terbium and dysprosium, and limited tungsten exports to the West. In 2010, China took similar measures during a diplomatic dispute with Japan over contested islands in the East China Sea. Other countries have likewise used export controls on minerals they dominate, such as Indonesia's restrictions on nickel and bauxite.

In September 2026, an executive at an industrial distribution company said at an industry conference that tight supply had again affected the company's supply chain, driving up prices for tools and consumables used by factories and machine shops across North America. Building alternative mining and refining capacity would take years.