The Ministry of Commerce of China announced that the decision taken on December 3, 2024, under measures prohibiting the export of military and civilian dual-use products and materials to US defense industry manufacturers has been suspended until November 27, 2026.
Within the scope of these measures, it was stated that the export of critical minerals such as gallium, germanium, and antimony, which are widely used in defense and weapon systems, as well as super hard metals, to the USA would be “generally not allowed”.
Additionally, it was noted that the export of graphite, which is widely used in the production of batteries and fuel cells as well as in the defense and aerospace sectors, would be subject to control.
THE MEASURES WERE TAKEN IN RESPONSE TO THE US’ CHIP RESTRICTIONS
The move by the Beijing government came after the administration of former US President Joe Biden imposed additional restrictions on China’s chip industry.
The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) under the US Department of Commerce announced on December 2, 2024, that export restrictions had been imposed on 24 types of chip manufacturing equipment and on three categories of software used in semiconductor development.
As part of these restrictions, the export of High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) chips used in artificial intelligence systems to China was also banned.
Moreover, the Ministry of Commerce had added 140 more Chinese companies to the “Entity List,” which is subject to export controls.
THE US AND CHINA POSTPONED DISPUTED ISSUES TO EACH OTHER
During a meeting on October 30 in the city of Busan, South Korea, US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to mutually postpone critical economic and trade disagreements that had caused tensions in recent months.
On September 29, the US delayed the implementation of a rule, known as the “Entity List,” which also includes joint ventures where foreign companies hold more than 50% ownership and are subject to export controls, by one year. In response, China agreed to postpone the enforcement of measures it had taken on October 9 relating to the export control of rare earth elements by one year.
The Beijing government announced on November 7 that the measures it had taken to control the export of rare earth elements would be postponed for one year from November 10.
