China halts ban on gallium, germanium, antimony exports to US, but controls remain

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By Kevin Yao and Lewis Jackson

BEIJING (Reuters) -China has suspended a ban on exports of gallium, germanium and antimony to the U.S., its commerce ministry said on Sunday, although the three metals remain subject to broader export controls requiring shippers to first get licences from Beijing.

China restricted exports of the three metals between August 2023 and September 2024 before singling out the U.S. for an outright ban last December in response to new curbs imposed on its chip sector by Washington.

The ban caused shortages among U.S. users and some importers resorted to workarounds like routing shipments through third countries to get their hands on materials used in products including semiconductors, fibre-optic cables, ammunition and flame retardants.

The ban’s suspension marks the latest relaxation of China’s mineral export control regime following the recent meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea.

The suspension took effect on Sunday and will last until November 27, 2026, China’s commerce ministry said in a statement.

However, the decision to suspend the ban did not revoke the earlier decisions to add the three metals to the dual-use export control list, so exporters will still need licences from Beijing for foreign sales.

Sunday’s announcement also did not revoke the decision to ban exports of any dual-use item to U.S. military users, which was announced alongside the metals ban last December.

China’s commerce ministry also on Sunday suspended a stricter regime of checks for exporters seeking licences to export certain types of dual-use graphite to the U.S.

A phone call to the Ministry of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry, Security, Import and Export Control was not answered on Monday.

(Reporting by Kevin Yao and Lewis Jackson in Beijing; Editing by Christopher Cushing, Raju Gopalakrishnan and Jamie Freed)