The deliveries of magnets, essential for assembling everything from cars and drones to robots, have been stopped at many Chinese ports, the newspaper writes.
At the same time, the Chinese government is developing a new regulatory system, which, once in place, can permanently prevent deliveries of components from reaching certain companies, including American military contractors.
The measures are part of China's response to US President Donald Trump's significant increase in American tariffs introduced since April 2.
Two days later, the Chinese government introduced export restrictions on several rare earth metals that are only refined in China, as well as rare magnets produced in China and essential in modern technology.
To export the metals and the special magnets manufactured from them, special export licenses are now required.
But China has barely started a system for issuing such licenses. This has created concerns among industry leaders who fear that the process may drag on and that the current stockpiles of minerals and products outside China may run out.
