Trade

China’s banning of germanium, gallium, and antimony exports to the U.S. and what it signals to the incoming Trump administration

Earlier this month, Beijing’s tech industry further cracked down on its critical semiconductor and chip trade as it ramps up policy safeguards against impending Washington tariffs. This escalation involved China barred gallium, germanium, and antimony exports to the US, hoping to strengthen the enforcement of existing limits on critical mineral exports that Beijing had begun rolling out only to the US. Perceived as an escalation of trade tensions between the two giants, China is seemingly shielding itself from a one-sided “trade war” rhetoric that Trump will unleash upon his ascendancy into office once more.