Increasing export controlsChina’s restrictions on critical...

Increasing export controls

China’s restrictions on critical minerals have accelerated in the last several months.

Following export controls in Aug. 2023 on gallium and germanium, two metals used in chipmaking, China, a year later, then announced similar restrictions on exports of antimony, which is used in bullets, nuclear weapons production and lead-acid batteries. It can also strengthen other metals.

A few months later, China released a broader policy that tightened restrictions on exports of products that could have both civilian and military use. The export controls cover metals such as tungsten that the U.S. has deemed critical.

Tungsten is nearly as hard as a diamond, and is used in weapons, semiconductors and industrial cutting machines.

There are about 300 grams (10.6 ounces) of tungsten in the average car, the majority of which is lost even with recycling, said Martin Hotwagner, market analyst at Austria-based Steel & Metal Market Research. As supplies run low, he expects Western companies will likely run out of tungsten later this summer.

— CNBC’s Sam Meredith contributed to this report.