China’s Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced its Tariff Implementation Plan for 2015 on December 17th, the new tariff plan will be implemented by the General Administration of Customs on January 1, 2015, according to a statement posted on the MOF website, which noted that the State Council, China’s Cabinet, approved the plan after deliberation by the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council.

Under the 2015 Tariff Plan, the country will continue to levy temporary tariffs on exports including rare earth, molybdenum and tungsten, while the tariff rates will remain unchanged for the coming year, of which the related rare earth will continue to be subject to export duties in the range of 15% to 25%, according to the statement.

The move indicates that Beijing authorities is not in a hurry to lift restrictions on rare earth exports amid fears of a sharp increase in illegal rare earth exports, as illegal mining, production and trading remain rife in China’s domestic market.

Currently, there has been no official announcement from the Chinese government that the country would scrap rare earth export restrictions since 2015. However, rumors had recently been circulating in the market that China will remain on export tariffs for rare earth products until the second quarter of 2015.

“After China lost the WTO rare earth case in August, the government currently has completed the negotiation with the U.S., EU and Japan, while the two sides have reached an agreement to establish a reasonable period of time to implement the rulings of the DSB, China might cancel the export quotas and duties on rare earth in April or May in 2015.” Chinese paper reported on December 19th, quoting an unnamed official source.

The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) currently has not yet to announce the requirements and procedures for applying for the export of rare earths in 2015, therefore the policy of export quotas for rare earths in the coming year still uncertain. Nonetheless, China actually has removed the quotas system for the molybdenum and tungsten instead of an export licensing control system, according to a statement posted on the MOFCOM website last month. So what is Beijing likely to do about next year’s export quotas for rare earths? It’s most possible that the same to the export of molybdenum and tungsten, China will lift the export quotas for rare earths while implementing the licensing control system as a tool to enhance rare earths export limitation, particularly to restrict the rare earth export from those illegal producers, I think.

An October’s statement from WTO website pointed out that “At the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) meeting on 26 September 2014, China stated that it intended to implement the DSB’s recommendations and ruling in a manner that respects its WTO obligations. China added that it would need a reasonable period of time to do so.” So there’s no doubt in my mind that china will remove the export quotas and duties on rare earth in 2015.

In fact, the Chinese government still needs more time to plug regulatory loopholes for its domestic rare earth market at present. The Economy & Nation Weekly, a Xinhua News Agency-affiliated magazine reported on December 19th that the Chinese eight ministries including Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and Ministry of Public Security (MPS) currently are working together to thoroughly do inventory every related rare earth producers and traders.

“The campaign’s success or failure is the standard for whether the rare earth price will remain steady recovery.” Shi yaoqiang, an official with the rare earth division of China’s MIIT said in an interview with the Economy & Nation Weekly. China has launched a six-month crackdown against the illegal rare earth mining, production, circulation and export from October 10, 2014 to March 31, 2015.

China’s further crackdown on illegal rare earth, plus a new rumor of the government might launch another round of national stockpile, which are boosting the country’s rare earth price to remain steady recovery.

• [Editor:Mango]