Cecilia Jamasmie | February 4, 2025

Washed tungsten, Rwanda. (Image: Fairphone | Flickr.) | Under Creative Commons license. “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike CC BY-NC-SA.”
China unveiled a series of retaliatory measures against the United States on Tuesday, including restrictions on the export of five critical metals used in defence, clean energy, and other industries. The move comes in response to President Trump’s announcement on Friday of a blanket 10% additional tariff on Chinese imports.

Beijing’s new export controls target tungsten, tellurium, bismuth, indium, and molybdenum, stating that export licenses will only be granted to companies complying with “relevant regulations.” However, the Chinese government has not provided details about the specific criteria for compliance.
While significant, these measures fall short of the mineral export bans that China imposed on the US in December, which included gallium, germanium, antimony, and so-called superhard materials.
Some of the newly imposed controls are expected to have minimal impact on US industries. For instance, the United States is a major producer of molybdenum, a metal used to strengthen steel and reduce corrosion, and relies on negligible imports of it from China, according to the latest data from the US Geological Survey (USGS).
Additionally, US tariffs on indium and tungsten — set at 25% since last year — have already driven American importers to diversify their supply chains. Over the past four years, less than 10% of US indium imports have come from China, with South Korea, Japan, and Canada emerging as key suppliers, according to the USGS.
Still, vulnerabilities remain. The US ceased mining tungsten, a mineral critical for alloys and specialty steels, in 2015 and has not produced refined bismuth since 1997, relying entirely on imports for both materials.
Despite a declining share of tungsten imports from China, the country remains the primary supplier, making any sudden disruptions potentially damaging to US industries reliant on this resource.
Counter tariffs
China’s finance ministry also announced additional tariffs on US goods. Starting February 10, the country will impose a 15% duty on coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports and raise tariffs by 10% on American crude oil, agricultural equipment, and certain cars.
President Trump, now in his second term, recently directed his administration to investigate China’s adherence to a trade deal reached during his first presidency in 2020. Economists note that the final results of this review, expected by April 1, could pave the way for further tariff measures.
In his first term in 2018, Trump launched a fierce two-year trade war with China, targeting its significant trade surplus with the US through tit-for-tat tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars in goods. The conflict disrupted global supply chains and strained the world economy.
In 2020, China agreed to purchase an additional $200 billion in US goods annually to end the trade war. However, the covid-19 pandemic derailed the agreement, and China’s trade deficit with the US grew to $361 billion last year, according to the country’s customs data released in December.
China’s Critical Mineral Export Curbs Could Upend Market
By Irina Slav - Feb 04, 2025,
China announced curbs on the exports of three critical minerals in December 2024.
China looks to curb lithium battery tech exports as a retaliatory measure to U.S. trade policy.
Beijing’s export restriction move only highlights China’s already well-known dominance in transition technology and the rest of the world’s near complete reliance on it for this technology.
In early December, China announced curbs on the exports of three critical minerals, including antimony, gallium, germanium, and several other minerals, to the United States. The price of these minerals soared, especially in antimony, which is a key ingredient in semiconductors and weapons. Now, China is reportedly planning to do the same to lithium battery tech exports, which could completely upend the critical minerals market.
The United States is the primary target of these limits as President Trump hardens the tariff rhetoric—and action—on both U.S. neighbors and China. In his latest squeeze on major trade partners, Trump threatened to impose 25% import tariffs on Mexican and Canadian products, which got most of the media attention. Yet he also imposed an additional 10% tariff on Chinese imports to make his point about the U.S. being shortchanged on trade.
In this context, China’s bans, although chronologically preceding the Trump tariffs, are a retaliatory measure to U.S. trade policy. In a more specific context, however, the context of the energy transition, Beijing’s export restriction move only highlights China’s already well-known dominance in transition technology and the rest of the world’s near complete reliance on it for this technology. When it comes to the transition, in other words, China holds all the cards.
Recent antimony price developments are a case in point. When China announced it would curb exports of the critical mineral, antimony prices surged to all-time highs, ending 2024 at $40,000 per ton for a total annual rise of a whopping 250%. “We have already sold some small quantities for $40,000,” a metals trader from Europe told Reuters at the time. “Non-Chinese sellers...will charge more to maximize profits.”
The problem is that it’s not just antimony that is being restricted. Indeed, an Argus senior analyst told the South China Morning Post last month that “There is a risk that China might expand its export restrictions on critical materials in the near term.” Ellie Saklatvala also told the SCMP that “In the short term, it will be very difficult for the US to significantly reduce its reliance on China for critical minerals – it usually takes many years and huge investments to develop new supply sources.”
That last comment sums up the challenges lying ahead for the United States and, to a much larger extent, Europe in securing enough critical minerals for the energy transition and balancing this priority with its foreign policy objectives, which seem to focus on containing China’s global influence. That would certainly be a tough act, and it is an act that the United States no longer has to try and master—because Trump has essentially pulled the brakes on the whole transition push.
Yet even without the energy transition as a top priority, the U.S. still needs critical minerals for its tech and defense industries—and China knows this well, which is precisely why it is curbing exports. And there is nothing importers can do except scramble to tap the limited pool of non-Chinese supplies. A further complication arose just this month when the U.S. president imposed those tariffs on Canada—which also produces critical minerals.
Indeed, analysts were quick to point out that Canada could use its mining industry as a bargaining chip in tariff negotiations with Trump because it either already mines or at least has resources of 16 out of 50 critical minerals that would come in handy as alternatives to Chinese supply, including germanium and gallium.
Meanwhile, the issue with critical mineral supply is becoming increasingly urgent because China is not just curbing exports—it is doubling down on cementing its global dominance in the sector with massive ongoing investments and reserve reporting mandates for Chinese miners operating abroad.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
China announced curbs on the exports of three critical minerals in December 2024.
China looks to curb lithium battery tech exports as a retaliatory measure to U.S. trade policy.
Beijing’s export restriction move only highlights China’s already well-known dominance in transition technology and the rest of the world’s near complete reliance on it for this technology.
In early December, China announced curbs on the exports of three critical minerals, including antimony, gallium, germanium, and several other minerals, to the United States. The price of these minerals soared, especially in antimony, which is a key ingredient in semiconductors and weapons. Now, China is reportedly planning to do the same to lithium battery tech exports, which could completely upend the critical minerals market.
The United States is the primary target of these limits as President Trump hardens the tariff rhetoric—and action—on both U.S. neighbors and China. In his latest squeeze on major trade partners, Trump threatened to impose 25% import tariffs on Mexican and Canadian products, which got most of the media attention. Yet he also imposed an additional 10% tariff on Chinese imports to make his point about the U.S. being shortchanged on trade.
In this context, China’s bans, although chronologically preceding the Trump tariffs, are a retaliatory measure to U.S. trade policy. In a more specific context, however, the context of the energy transition, Beijing’s export restriction move only highlights China’s already well-known dominance in transition technology and the rest of the world’s near complete reliance on it for this technology. When it comes to the transition, in other words, China holds all the cards.
Recent antimony price developments are a case in point. When China announced it would curb exports of the critical mineral, antimony prices surged to all-time highs, ending 2024 at $40,000 per ton for a total annual rise of a whopping 250%. “We have already sold some small quantities for $40,000,” a metals trader from Europe told Reuters at the time. “Non-Chinese sellers...will charge more to maximize profits.”
The problem is that it’s not just antimony that is being restricted. Indeed, an Argus senior analyst told the South China Morning Post last month that “There is a risk that China might expand its export restrictions on critical materials in the near term.” Ellie Saklatvala also told the SCMP that “In the short term, it will be very difficult for the US to significantly reduce its reliance on China for critical minerals – it usually takes many years and huge investments to develop new supply sources.”
That last comment sums up the challenges lying ahead for the United States and, to a much larger extent, Europe in securing enough critical minerals for the energy transition and balancing this priority with its foreign policy objectives, which seem to focus on containing China’s global influence. That would certainly be a tough act, and it is an act that the United States no longer has to try and master—because Trump has essentially pulled the brakes on the whole transition push.
Yet even without the energy transition as a top priority, the U.S. still needs critical minerals for its tech and defense industries—and China knows this well, which is precisely why it is curbing exports. And there is nothing importers can do except scramble to tap the limited pool of non-Chinese supplies. A further complication arose just this month when the U.S. president imposed those tariffs on Canada—which also produces critical minerals.
Indeed, analysts were quick to point out that Canada could use its mining industry as a bargaining chip in tariff negotiations with Trump because it either already mines or at least has resources of 16 out of 50 critical minerals that would come in handy as alternatives to Chinese supply, including germanium and gallium.
Meanwhile, the issue with critical mineral supply is becoming increasingly urgent because China is not just curbing exports—it is doubling down on cementing its global dominance in the sector with massive ongoing investments and reserve reporting mandates for Chinese miners operating abroad.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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