China suspended an export ban to the US that had targeted gallium, germanium and antimony, metals crucial for modern technology, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced yesterday in a de-escalation of the trade war with Washington.
The restrictions banned the export of dual-use goods, materials that can have both civilian and military applications.
Imposed December last year, the ban is suspended until November next year, the ministry said in a statement.
Photo: AP
The announcement comes after Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump met on Oct. 30 in South Korea and agreed to walk back some punitive measures imposed during their tit-for-tat tariff escalation.
At one point, duties on both sides had reached prohibitive triple-digit levels, hampering trade between the world’s two largest economies and snarling global supply chains.
Throughout the trade war, China has sought to leverage its chokehold over the critical minerals underpinning everything from smartphones to advanced military technology. Gallium, germanium and antimony are not classed as rare earth elements but are crucial for entire sectors of the economy.
China accounts for 94 percent of the world’s production of gallium — used in integrated circuits, LEDs and photovoltaic panels — according to a report by the EU published last year.
For germanium, essential for fiber optics and infrared sensors, China makes up 83 percent of production.
Antimony is used both in battery technology and by the arms industry to reinforce armor plating and ammunition.
In its brief statement, the ministry also announced the easing of restrictions on exports of graphite-related products, which had likewise been banned under the controls on dual-use goods.
These are the latest de-escalation measures taken by Beijing since the Xi-Trump meeting.
Last week, China announced that it would extend the suspension of additional tariffs on US goods for one year, keeping them at 10 percent.
The commerce ministry said it would cease applying additional tariffs imposed since March on soybeans and a number of other US agricultural products. These measures severely impacted a key source of Trump’s political support, farmers.
Trump announced at the end of last month that China had agreed to suspend the restrictions imposed on Oct. 9 on the export of rare earths technology for one year.
Rare earths are a field dominated by China and are essential for manufacturing in many areas.
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