In a hulking grey building just east of Tiananmen square in Beijing, a small team in China's Ministry of Commerce is deciding the fate of the global auto industry, one rare earth magnet export permit at a time.

China's Ministry of Commerce in early April imposed export restrictions on several rare earth elements and magnets widely used in the automotive, defense and energy sectors. Some of the affected rare earth elements are vital components to the production of both combustion engines and electric vehicles.