Even as China signals it may issue more export permits for Europe and the United States, its tight grip on rare earth metals looks unlikely to loosen anytime soon, analysts warn. Three companies listed in Shenzhen announced this month that Beijing had approved their applications to ship magnets made with rare earths,

The tentative deal between the United States and China may represent a retreat from the worst-case scenario of a total collapse of trade between the world's two biggest economies, but it creates more problems than it solves.

United States and Chinese officials said they had agreed on a framework for a trade truce, which removed China's export restrictions on rare earths.