China Suspends Export Ban On Key Tech Metals
Beijing’s Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China announced on Sunday that it will temporarily suspend the ban on exports of “dual-use” items including Gallium, Germanium and Antimony to the United States. The suspension took effect immediately and will remain in place until November 27, 2026.
The original export curbs had been put in place in December 2024, citing national-security concerns over these materials, which are critical in both civilian and military technology applications.
Details And Clauses
According to the Chinese ministry’s statement, the pause applies to the second clause of the December 2024 notice, which dealt with broad licence-approval restrictions for these exports to the US market. The first clause – which prohibits exports of these items for US military end-uses – remains in force. Under the original restrictions, gallium, germanium and antimony were effectively barred from export to the US, with zero such shipments reported for germanium or gallium in 2024.
In addition, the ministry also said that stricter end-user/end-use checks on dual-use graphite items destined for the US will remain suspended during this period.
Implications For Supply Chains
The decision signals a de-escalation in the tech-linked trade tensions between China and the US. These materials are vital for semiconductor manufacturing, fibre-optics, solar cells and defense systems. China’s dominance in refining these critical minerals meant the earlier ban had raised serious concerns in US supply chains. Analysts say the suspension may ease short-term supply constraints, but uncertainties remain about whether full export normalisation will follow and how reliably US firms can source these materials going forward.
