China said on Saturday it was willing to accelerate the examination and approval of rare earth exports to European Union firms.

Beijing has approved more export licenses for the critical minerals and magnets in recent days, but supplies remain scarce and factories in the West are running out.

The rare-earth miner MP Materials will enjoy growing strategic value to the U.S., as geopolitical tensions with China make the supply of critical minerals more uncertain, according to Morgan Stanley.

China's critical-mineral export controls have become a focus on Trump's criticism of Beijing, which he says has violated the truce reached last month to roll back tariffs and trade restrictions.

Options include moving car part manufacturing to China despite tariffs, or just slowing down the push for electric vehicles.

China has approved temporary export licenses to rare-earth suppliers of the top US automakers, Reuters reported on Friday, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.

Police officers, customs officials and spies are reinforcing China’s embargo on the critical minerals that it overwhelmingly controls.

Ford CFO Sherry House also discussed what the Dearborn-based automaker is telling Wall Street about upcoming headwinds.

Markets cheered in early May when the US and China agreed in Geneva to lower tariffs and other barriers. But after a few weeks, the shine started to come off that deal, with China accusing the US of violating it with new restrictions and the US saying China failed to honor promises on rare earths.

(Reuters) -Automakers and their suppliers are facing shortages due to restrictions on Chinese exports of rare earths, minerals and magnets, an issue that has forced some to shut down production of certain models. Rare earth magnets are used in motors that run electric vehicles and other car parts such as windows and audio speakers.

Gracelin Baskaran, Center for Strategic and International Studies director of the critical minerals security program, and Wells Fargo's Colin Langan, join 'Power Lunch' to discuss the latest impact of China's rare earth restrictions.