Fight China on rare Earths with powerful trade tools: Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron told European Union leaders to consider using the bloc's most powerful trade tool against China if they aren't able to find a resolution to Beijing's planned export controls on critical raw materials.

Macron said they need to weigh using all options available against China, including the EU's so-called anti-coercion instrument, according to people familiar with the matter.

He made the statement to his counterparts during a leaders' summit in Brussels Thursday, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The French presidency didn't respond to a request for comment. "This is economic coercion," Macron told reporters after the summit, referring to the Chinese announcement on rare earths, without commenting on the specifics of the closed-door conversation. "We can see the impact it is having on us and we need to be able to respond."


China announced plans to significantly tighten controls on its exports of rare earths and other critical materials earlier this month.