Shanghai (China) (EFE).- The Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced restrictions on the export of gallium and germanium, two key metals for the manufacture of semiconductors, a product that is at the center of commercial and technological tensions between Beijing and West, especially the United States.
In a statement published last night, the aforementioned ministry indicated that, as of August 1, it will not be possible to export gallium or germanium metal or more than a dozen of their derivatives without requesting a specific permit from Commerce.
The statement pointed out that the decision to apply these export controls is due to the spirit of “protecting national security and national interests”, and that the export of the affected materials without the relevant permits will be “constituting a crime.”
China is the world’s largest producer of both elements, with more than 95% of gallium production and 67% of germanium.
In an editorial, the official newspaper China Daily defended the decision as “fair”, and accused the United States of having the largest germanium deposits in the world but “not exploiting them very much”, since its extraction represents a major source of environmental pollution.
Beyond the environmental arguments, the newspaper also points to the Netherlands for the restrictions imposed on the export of chip machines to China: “It is they who endanger global supply chains, and they cannot blame China , which is defending its legal national interests in this world of uncertainty.”
“USA.” is the goal
Experts quoted by the Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post assure that it is a measure of pressure in the face of negotiations with Washington and other Western governments so that they withdraw their restrictions on the export of chips and equipment necessary for the manufacture of these to China. products, in which the Asian country still depends on the outside despite its efforts to become self-sufficient.
The measure has been announced the same week that US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will pay an official visit to China.
“U.S. The US is the number 1 target of export controls imposed on gallium and germanium. Germanium is also used in important military technologies. (…) It is a clear retaliation for the restrictions imposed by the US on the sale of chips to Chinese companies, ”explained Aadil Brar, visiting professor at National Chengchi University in Taipei.
“This will probably exacerbate the technological war in the medium term,” said the academic.
Although replacing China as the source of these materials would be very difficult in the short term, Thorsten Benner, director of the Global Institute for Public Policy in Berlin, said the restrictions are a “very useful reminder” about the “urgency” of eliminating the risks of dependence on China for key resources, even if it meant incurring “increased costs or unpopular mining or refining initiatives in our national territories.”