Here’s the update, per the New York Times:

The Chinese government on Thursday abruptly ended its unannounced export embargo on crucial rare earth minerals to the United States, Europe and Japan, four industry officials said. The embargo, which has raised trade tensions, ended as it had begun — with no official acknowledgment from Beijing, or any explanation from customs agents at China’s ports. Rare earths are increasingly in demand for their use in a broad range of sophisticated electronics, from smartphones to smart bombs. Having blocked shipments of raw rare earth minerals to Japan since mid-September, and to the United States and Europe since early last week, Chinese customs agents on Thursday morning allowed shipments to resume to all three destinations, the industry officials said.

Note that while the ban has been reversed, the supply interruption has led to a price spike, and that may persist if China keeps supplies tight. From the Times:

Even with containers of rare earths once again leaving China’s docks, foreign buyers still face potential shortages. As China’s own industrial needs for rare earths have grown, Beijing has repeatedly reduced its export quotas for the minerals over the last five years. So even when China is shipping its full quotas, the outbound supply is now well below world demand. Moreover, the tight export quotas have caused world prices to soar, even while holding steady in China.

There are two different ways to read this little contretemps, and readers can no doubt come up with other interpretations: