US adds additional 10% import tariff on all articles from China
From Tuesday of this week, the US will levy an additional 10% tariff on imports of “all articles” from China, over and above last month's increase and any other duties, fees or tariffs already in place.
Another week, another round of tariffs
This week, the US imposed an additional 10% import tariff on goods from China in effect from Tuesday. This is on top of the 10% tariff imposed from last month and any prior pre-existing levies.
“Drugs are still pouring into our country from Mexico and Canada at very high and unacceptable levels. A large percentage of these drugs, much of them in the form of Fentanyl, are made in, and supplied by, China,” Trump wrote.
As we noted in an insight to clients last month, the 10% tariff added in early February will see tariffs on rare earth imports raised to 10%-15.9%. The new tariff top up this week has lifted that figure to 20%-25.9%.
In the case of permanent magnets, the combined 22.1% levy starting this week is fast approaching the 25% already slated to come into effect from January 1, 2026, as per an earlier decision by the Biden administration.
Should Trump 2.0 opt to stack the incoming 25% on top of the current 22.1%, it would go a long way to leveling the playing field between Chinese and emerging western magnet makers that are otherwise disadvantaged against China’s highly subsidized state-controlled industry.
The table below is an updated version of last month’s including the additional 10% tariff in place from March 4, 2025.
For US-based importers of China-made NdFeB magnets, including automotive, robotics and advanced air mobility OEMs, their bill of magnet materials is poised to increase by another 10% from this week and potentially another 25% by next year, notwithstanding any movements in baseline prices in the interim.
This means that a US-based magnet maker selling at a ~45% premium to China-priced materials could become a cost-competitive alternative to China for OEMs in the US currently importing from the nation. Similarly, magnet makers in Europe, Japan, South Korea, Thailand or elsewhere outside of China can also expect to sell at a premium to US consumers, at least until (if ever) the US landscape becomes oversaturated with supplies.
In Europe in particular, the lack of existing and emerging NdFeB magnet production capacity relative to the region’s current import volumes from China each year will likely make demand for those limited domestic supplies high in the years ahead as the EU seeks to address its extreme import reliance on China.
At the same time, however, Europe-based manufacturers of NdFeB magnets will see tangible opportunities to sell their limited supplies to US-based consumers at a premium thereby compelling Europe-based magnet buyers to match the US premium as a means of securing those supplies. And the same can be said to some degree for Japan, South Korea, Thailand and other regions outside China.
Consequently, the rising tide of US tariffs on imports from China stands to float all boats with respect to NdFeB magnet prices outside of China, as well as prices of other rare earth materials that the US imports in abundance (e.g., lanthanum compounds) which are also subject to another 10% tariff increase from this week.
Existing and emerging rare earth magnet and magnetic alloy makers outside of China poised to benefit include MP Materials, Vacuumschmelze, Noveon Magnetics, USA Rare Earth, Neo Performance Materials, POSCO-Star Group, Proterial, Shin-Etsu, Daido Steel and TDK, among others.
Contact Adamas Intelligence or more information on existing and emerging alternative sources of supply.
More on this topic at Rare Earth Mines, Magnets & Motors 2025
Join us in Toronto in September 2025 for Rare Earth Mines, Magnets & Motors 2025 where we’ll explore this topic further with leading industry experts.
The two-day event will bring together business and technical leaders from across the global mine-to-OEM supply chain for high caliber discussions and networking at a 5-star venue.
Key themes of this year’s conference will include robotics, automation, advanced air mobility, and the emerging mine-to-magnet supply chain coming together upstream.
Special guest: Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple
More information: www.adamasevent.com
