CHINA has strengthened control over the export of dual-use items to the United States to safeguard national security and interests and fulfill international non-proliferation obligations.

Dual-use products are goods designed for civilian use that in the wrong hands could be used to launch military actions or terrorist attacks. They can be anything from drones to chemicals.

China has prohibited the export of dual-use items to U.S. military users or for military purposes effective immediately, the Ministry of Commerce announced Tuesday.

The export of dual-use items related to gallium, germanium, antimony, and superhard materials to the U.S. is not to be permitted, the ministry said. In addition, stricter end-user and end-use reviews will be conducted regarding exports of graphite-related dual-use items, it added.

Many countries have designated these materials, which are relatively scarce, widely applicable, and with certain military uses, as strategic mineral resources. In addition, their price has surged in recent years, with the cost of antimony soaring over 210% this year.

Given the rising geopolitical risks, the price of antimony is expected to continue its upward trend into the next year, Securities Times reported, citing analysts. China’s tightening of export controls to the U.S. will likely further hike the price of these resources.

Gallium is used in gas sensors, solar cells, rare earth magnets, and compounds such as gallium arsenide and nitride chips. Germanium, a natural semiconductor, is used in chips, fiber optics, infrared optics, solar cells, chemical catalysts, and biomedical fields. Antimony is used in chemicals, electronics, and pharmaceuticals.

Analysts view this move as a response to the latest U.S. export control on chips.

On Monday, the Bureau of Industry and Security of the U.S. Department of Commerce introduced new export control rules that added 136 Chinese companies to the so-called Entity List to limit their capacity to produce 24 types of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, three software tools, and high-bandwidth memory that may be used in smart military applications or threaten U.S. national security.

The U.S. actions will not only damage the interests of Chinese companies but also disrupt the global semiconductor industry’s supply chain by raising costs, as per the China Semiconductor Industry Association.

“The semiconductor industry is highly globalized, and the U.S.’ abuse of regulatory measures severely hinders normal economic and trade exchanges between countries, undermines market rules and international economic order, and threatens the stability of the global industrial and supply chains,” according to a spokesperson of China’s Ministry of Commerce on Tuesday.

(SD-Agencies)