Malaysia’s ban on raw rare earths exports remains despite US deal, trade minister says

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia will maintain a ban on the export of raw rare earths to protect its domestic resources, despite

signing a critical minerals deal with the US

this week, the investment, trade and industry  minister said on Oct 29.

Speaking in Parliament, Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz dismissed allegations that Malaysia will allow the export of critical minerals and rare earths to the US in pursuit of immediate profits or strategic goals.

“We no longer want to be a country that only digs and ships out cheap raw materials like in the past,” Datuk Seri Zafrul said, reiterating that Malaysia will instead encourage foreign investment and technology sharing for the mining and processing of raw rare earths.

“Our policy is not to prevent trade forever,” he said. “Our policy is to prevent the export of cheap unprocessed raw materials so that value is added to Malaysia.”

Malaysia has some 16.1 million tonnes of rare earth deposits, according to government estimates, but lacks the technology to mine and process them.

Rare earth materials are essential for high-tech manufacturing, in industries such as electric vehicles, semiconductors and missiles.

Reuters reported earlier in October that Malaysia was in talks with China on rare earths processing, saying Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional would partner with a Chinese firm to build a refinery in Malaysia.

The US signed separate deals with Malaysia and Thailand during President Donald Trump’s visit to Kuala Lumpur on Oct 26, seeking cooperation to diversify critical minerals supply chains amid competing efforts from China.

According to a joint statement by the US and Malaysia, the South-east Asian country agreed to refrain from banning or imposing quotas on exports of critical minerals or rare earth elements to America. REUTERS