MofCom claps back at Bessent and Greer

On October 16, China's Ministry of Commerce (MofCom) issued a series of Q&A posts via their official X account, defending China's expanded rare earth export control regime.

• The posts also respond to several public comments made by top US economic officials Scott Bessent and Jamieson Greer on the issue over the past few days.

In their posts, MofCom tried to assure both the US and EU that most companies will not be in the firing line, stating that:

• MofCom won't be dismantling its REE export controls – but it will approve most applications and strive to smooth approval channels.
• The US is being dramatic and blowing the impact of China's rules out of proportion for political purposes.

But it also stridently accused the US of hypocrisy and double-dealing, arguing:

• The US exercises long-arm jurisdiction, why shouldn't China?
• The real problem is that the US keeps hitting China with new attacks on one hand, such as new port fees on Chinese ships and the 50% rule, while disingenuously engaging in trade talks with the other.
• Dutch court records from the Nexperia blow-up prove that the US 50% rule has already damaged the rights of Chinese companies abroad.
• China is still willing to talk, but only on equal footing.

Our take: Pausing tariff hikes while trade talks proceed isn't enough for Beijing – it wants a full pause on all hostilities while talks continue.

• Considering how many US actions that target China are currently in the works, it's hard to see how that might happen.