China is pushing back at new U.S. trade restrictions by banning the export of some rare minerals to the U.S.
The country is prohibiting “the export of dual-use items such as gallium, germanium, antimony and superhard materials” to the U.S. that could be used for military purposes, according to a translation of the statement by China’s Ministry of Commerce on Tuesday. Graphite exports will also be subject to stricter review.
The new export controls were decided “in order to safeguard national security and interests and fulfill international obligations such as non-proliferation,” according to the ministry’s statement.
China is the dominant producer of rare earth metals, including critical minerals that are needed for semiconductor and other advanced technology production.
“The US has generalized the concept of national security, and politicized and weaponized economic, trade and tech issues,” a spokesperson for the ministry said in a statement to Bloomberg. “It has abused export control measures and unreasonably restricted certain products’ export to China.”
The Biden administration introduced more restrictions on the sale of high-bandwidth memory and chipmaking tools to China on Monday, including tools produced by U.S. companies abroad.
The new U.S. rules include controls on 24 types of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, as well as on three types of software tools that can be used to develop or produce chips, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) said.
Additionally, another 140 unnamed Chinese entities — including semiconductor fabs, tool companies, and investment firms — accused of working on behalf of the Chinese government were added to the U.S. trade blacklist. The trade restrictions “will restrict the PRC’s ability to produce technologies key to its military modernization or repression of human rights,” the BIS said in a statement.
The updated rules have “two primary objectives,” according to the BIS: slowing China’s advanced AI developments that have “the potential to change the future of warfare” and “impairing” China’s development of its chip ecosystem.