Vietnam amends law to ban exports of raw rare earth minerals

Vietnam’s Parliament moved to ban exports of raw rare earth resources as part of an overhaul of the nation’s geology and minerals law, which tightens controls over deposits and sets out new rules for the industry.

The government will “strictly” control the exploration, exploitation and processing of rare earths and prohibit exports of raw rare earth minerals, according to the new law, which takes effect in January.

Only companies with government approval will be permitted to exploit, process and use rare earths.

The new law says that international cooperation will be encouraged in research, transfer and development of technologies for the extraction, beneficiation, separation and deep processing of rare earths to support the development of a domestic rare earth industry.

Vietnam has reserves of 3.5 million tonnes of rare earth minerals, ranking it sixth globally, according to the US Geological Survey’s March 2025 report.

That was a significant revision from the US agency, which had previously estimated that Vietnam had about 22 million tonnes, the world’s second-largest deposits, just behind China. 

Rare earths, a family of 17 metallic elements, help power everything from smartphones and laptops to fighter jets and missiles, and are almost exclusively controlled by China.

The amended law also states that deep processing of rare earths must be linked to the development of the industrial ecosystem to enhance the South-east Asian nation’s local value chain and ensure self-reliance in the rare earth sector. 

Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Environment is working on a national strategy for rare earth minerals which will be submitted to government in early 2026, according to a government website post

By Nguyen Xuan Quynh – Bloomberg – December 11, 2025