China to restrict silver exports, echoing rare earths playbook

Silver bars are stacked in the safe deposit boxes room of the Pro Aurum gold house in Munich, Germany, January 10, 2025.

BEIJING — China is set to tighten controls on silver exports from Thursday, expanding restrictions on the once-ordinary metal critical to the U.S. industry and defense supply chains.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk criticized the move over the weekend on his social media platform X, responding to a post about the upcoming restrictions.

"This is not good. Silver is needed in many industrial processes," Musk wrote.

But the rules are not new. China's Commerce Ministry first announced the new measures in October to strengthen oversight of rare metals, on the same day that U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in South Korea. At the time, Beijing agreed to a one-year pause on certain rare earth export controls, while the U.S. rolled back tariffs.

Earlier this month, China released a list of 44 companies approved to export silver under the new measures in 2026 and 2027. The new rules in 2026 also restrict exports of tungsten and antimony, materials dominated by China's supply chain and widely used in defense and advanced technologies.

While China hasn't explicitly announced a blanket ban on silver exports, the state-run Securities Times on Tuesday cited an unnamed industry insider, who said the new policy formally elevates the metal from an ordinary commodity to a strategic material, placing its export controls on the same regulatory footing as rare earths.

The EU Chamber of Commerce in China found in a flash survey of members in November that a majority of respondents have been or expect to be affected by those Chinese export controls.

The U.S. added silver to its nationally designated list of critical minerals in November, citing its use in electrical circuits, batteries, solar cells, and anti-bacterial medical instruments. A separate U.S. analysis said China was one of the world's largest producers of silver in 2024, and also home to one of the largest reserves.

China exported more than 4,600 tons of silver in the first 11 months of the year, far more than the roughly 220 tons of imports during that time, according to Wind Information, citing official figures.

The restrictions on silver come just as interest in the metal has increased in recent weeks.

Two Chinese companies contacted Canada-based Kuya Silver on Friday, offering to buy physical silver at about $8 more than the market price at the time, CEO David Stein confirmed to CNBC. He said one company was a manufacturer, and the other was a large trading firm.

An Indian buyer approached Kuya on Monday with an offer $10 above the market price, he added.

Conservative digital media outlet The Free Press ran a column Tuesday by George Mason University economics professor Tyler Cowen, who said the surge in silver and gold prices reflects investors shifting away from the U.S. dollar.

He called the surge in prices "a flashing warning for the [U.S.] economy."

The U.S. dollar index has fallen by nearly 9.5% in 2025, its worst performance since 2017.

In contrast, silver has more than doubled in price, on track for its best year since 1979 when the metal surged by nearly 470%. Silver prices retreated on Wednesday after touching a record peak above $80 an ounce at the start of the week, with spot prices last trading at around $73.

Gold has gained more than 60% so far this year and is also on pace for its best year since 1979.

Bitcoin, sometimes promoted as an alternative to gold as a store of value, was trading near $88,000 Wednesday morning Beijing time, down by more than 5% for the year.

— CNBC's Chris Hayes contributed to this report.