China and the U.S. are considering extending a truce on Chinese rare earth export curbs at a leaders' summit this week, but Chinese customs data shows Beijing is still throttling shipments of the materials vital for defence and manufacturing. The resulting shortages and higher prices around the world underscore how controls imposed in retaliation for President Donald Trump's Liberation Day tariffs have become one of the policy's major legacies, long after the scaling back of most of the duties. Beijing's controls remain tightest over several specialty rare earths, produced at scale only in China and used in aerospace, defence, semiconductors and powerful magnets found within electronics and manufactured goods, including electric cars.