GreenergyDaily

Jan. 9, 2026

Japan is ramping up efforts to reach out to its Group of Seven peers and beyond amid mounting concerns over China’s grip on rare earths as the dispute with Beijing escalates.

Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said she will meet with counterparts of other industrialized democracies to discuss critical minerals during a trip to the US starting Sunday, while Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi is also set to hold talks with his US counterpart on Thursday. At home, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will be holding a summit with South Korea’s Lee Jae Myung next week to reaffirm the alliance between the two key US allies.

“The fundamental consensus among the G-7 nations is that it is unacceptable for countries to secure monopolies through non-market means,” Katayama told reporters on Friday, referring to China’s past actions regarding critical minerals. “This poses a crisis for the global economy and is extremely problematic for economic security.”

China has begun choking off exports of rare earths and rare-earth magnets to Japan, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier, citing two exporters in China. A Japanese company that imports rare earths from China hasn’t been informed of any halt in export application procedures at least from Thursday to noon on Friday, according to a person familiar with the situation.

While customs approvals have not halted for Chinese rare earths, processing times have gradually lengthened since the end of last year, according to a person familiar with the sourcing operations at a Japanese electronics components maker. The manufacturer has secured roughly six months’ worth of inventory in anticipation of the delays, the person said, asking that the company not be named.