China bans export of critical minerals to US as trade row escalates

Beijing has hit the pause button on the export of critical minerals such as gallium, germanium, antimony, and superhard materials to the US, the ministry of commerce said in a statement on Tuesday in a tit-for-tat move after the US announced a package of rules to impair China’s capability to produce advanced-node semiconductors.

China will also impose a stricter end-use review on dual-use products–civil as well as military use–related to graphite, the ministry added.

While gallium and germanium are key raw materials for semiconductors, antimony is a critical material used in making batteries and solder, along with its use in chips.

Superhard materials are used in submarine and satellite sensors for their thermal stability and optical capabilities.

The notice issued on Wednesday read, “By the provisions of the Export Control Law of the People’s Republic of China and other relevant laws and regulations, to safeguard the security and interests of the nation and to honor international obligations in areas such as nonproliferation, we have decided to strengthen controls on exports of relevant dual-use items to the United States. ”

The announcement comes after the US slapped fresh curbs on the sale of high-bandwidth memory chips that can be used in manufacturing next-generation advanced weapon systems and in artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing.

A ministry spokesperson, in a separate statement, said: “The US has generalized the concept of national security, and politicized and weaponized economic, trade and tech issues. It has abused export control measures and unreasonably restricted certain products’ export to China.”

On Monday, during a routine press briefing Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian  said China “firmly opposes the US overstretching the concept of national security, abusing export controls, and maliciously blocking and suppressing China.”

He said that this type of behavior (the US banning the export of chip-making equipment to China) seriously violates the laws of market economy and the principle of fair competition.

“It disrupts the international economic and trade order, destabilizes global industrial and supply chains, and will eventually harm the interests of all countries. China will take resolute measures to firmly defend Chinese companies’ legitimate and lawful rights and interests,” he added.