TRADE WAR: China bans export of raw materials to U.S. for high-tech and military applications

12/05/2024 / By Arsenio Toledo

The Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has announced a ban on exports to the United States of several raw materials that could be manufactured for high-tech and military applications.

Among the raw materials that were banned were gallium, germanium and antimony. The Commerce Ministry announced the move after Washington, D.C. expanded its list of Chinese corporations subject to export controls on semiconductor manufacturing equipment, software and high-bandwidth memory chips, citing concerns over national security. (Related: Chinese drone maker DJI sues Defense Department over inclusion in ChiCom military company list.)

“China has lodged stern protests with the U.S. for its update of the semiconductor export control measures, sanctions against Chinese companies and malicious suppression of China’s technological progress,” said Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Lin Jian. “I want to reiterate that China firmly opposed the U.S. overstretching the concept of national security, abuse of export control measures and illegal unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction against Chinese companies.”

The new export bans strengthen the enforcement of existing limits on critical minerals exports that China started implementing in July 2023. These export restrictions apply only to the American market and are expected to get worse after President-elect Donald Trump takes office and escalates the trade war.

Fears rising over potential expansion in raw materials placed under export controls

Antimony is used in flame retardants, batteries, night-vision goggles, bullets and other weaponry and even for nuclear weapons production. Gallium is necessary for the manufacturing of computer chips for smartphones, cars and other related products. Germanium is needed for the manufacture of solar panels, infrared technologies, fiber optic cables and certain military technologies.

China is the world’s largest producer of antimony, gallium and germanium. The U.S. gets about half of its gallium and germanium directly from China.

All three minerals are considered critical for China’s national security, and the Commerce Ministry said it would act to protect its “rights and interests” in the face of Washington placing another 140 Chinese corporations on its “entity list” subject to stricter export controls.

The expansion of the entity list comes as Beijing grows increasingly frustrated by American curbs on access to advanced processor chips and other semiconductor technology, also on grounds of national security. But before this export ban, it had been cautious in retaliating over fears that any offensive action could disrupt the country’s fledgling semiconductor manufacturing industry as well as the possibility of negative knock-on effects on other tech sectors like artificial intelligence.

The administration of outgoing President Joe Biden said it was assessing the new restrictions and would take “necessary steps” to respond.

“These new controls only underscore the importance of strengthening our efforts with other countries to de-risk and diversify critical supply chains away from PRC,” said a White House spokesperson.

The American private sector has also raised concerns, not so much due to the current restrictions but over fears that Beijing could target other critical minerals, including those with broad non-military and non-tech applications, like nickel and cobalt.

“China has been signaling for some time that it’s willing to take these steps, so when is the U.S. going to learn its lesson?” said Todd Malan, chief external affairs officer and head of climate strategy at Talon Metals, which is developing a copper and nickel mine in Minnesota.

Learn more about the tensions between China and the United States at CommunistChina.news.

Watch this clip from Sky News Australia as experts discuss preparations being made by Beijing for future “trade conflict” with the United States as soon as Trump is inaugurated.

This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.