China Expands Rare-Earth Controls, Threatening Medical Supply Chains

China has announced expanded export controls on 12 rare-earth elements, tightening limits on seven—including gadolinium, dysprosium and yttrium—and adding five new metals such as holmium, thulium and europium.
The policy follows U.S. restrictions on advanced chipmaking equipment and reflects concerns about dual-use technology. Several of the newly restricted elements are essential to medical-device technologies: high-strength magnets and alloys in MRI systems, phosphors and components in X-ray imaging, and precision optical materials for laser surgical instruments. Many are also critical to semiconductor manufacturing that underpins a broad range of chip-enabled medical devices.
China produces more than half of global rare-earth ore and handles nearly all refinement, creating a concentration risk. Elemental substitutes are limited and developing new extraction and refining capacity outside China would require years and substantial investment. Market analysis indicates over $9 billion of medical devices relied on these metals in 2024, with forecasts above $15 billion by 2036.
Manufacturers face heightened uncertainty: tighter export controls could slow market growth, cause localized shortages, and disrupt production of MRI, X-ray and other advanced medical equipment unless alternative supplies, recycling or domestic refining scale up rapidly.