China's Ministry of State Security says it is cracking down on alleged smuggling of rare earths materials that it says threaten national security.

China's shipments of rare earth magnets to the United States jumped sharply in June. The rebound came after months of disruption and signaled renewed momentum in critical mineral trade between the two countries.

How, then, to explain the resilience of China’s exports in the turmoil of the global trade war? Some companies have been “front-loading”, or shipping extra goods to America, on fears that the truce will not hold and levies will increase further later.