China bans exports of military materials to the United States

China will ban the export of materials that could have military applications, including gallium, germanium, antimony, and superhard materials, to the United States.

The Ministry of Commerce of China announced this on Tuesday, Reuters reports.

Beijing’s directive, which concerns so-called dual-use goods, comes into force immediately and provides for tighter control over the end use of graphite products exported to the United States.

“In principle, the export of gallium, germanium, antimony, and superhard materials to the United States is not allowed,” the Ministry announced in a statement.

These restrictions reinforce the controls China started to impose last year on importing critical minerals. However, the new measures apply only to the United States, which is another escalation of trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration.

According to Chinese customs, this year (through October), China has not supplied the United States with gallium and germanium in raw or processed form, although a year ago, the United States was the fourth and fifth largest market for these materials, respectively.

The materials in question are used in the production of chips and batteries, as well as in components for military and communications equipment.

Restrictions from the United States

On December 2, the United States imposed new trade restrictions on Chinese technology companies designed to slow down the development of China’s semiconductor industry.

The US also restricted the export of high-bandwidth memory chips to China. Such chips are needed to process huge amounts of data in modern programs.

China’s Ministry of Commerce called the new US restrictions “a typical act of economic coercion and non-market practices.”

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo claimed that the move aimed to limit China’s ability to use advanced technologies that pose a risk to U.S. national security.

In October, the United States imposed sanctions for the first time against Chinese companies that produce drones for Russia.