China has imposed new export controls on a range of minerals, including antimony, which is vital to the U.S. defense industry as a flame-retardant component used in machine bearings, a move that could send defense prices soaring.
The little-known metal antimony is used in ammunition, infrared missiles, nuclear weapons and night-vision goggles, as well as batteries and solar power devices. China produced almost half the world's antimony last year.
The restrictions, which came into force on Sunday, apply to six antimony-related products, including antimony ore, antimony metal and antimony oxide.
The United States consumed about 22,000 tonnes of antimony last year. China accounted for 63 percent of U.S. imports of antimony metal and oxide last year, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Belgium, the next largest supplier, provided about 8 percent.
China's Commerce Ministry said in a statement that the material was restricted “to safeguard national security and interests and fulfill international obligations such as nuclear non-proliferation.”
Chinese villagers weigh antimony ore from an illegal mine in the Lengshui River. China is now restricting exports of the substance.
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The United States and other countries are working to reduce their reliance on China for key defense and energy inputs. But China remains Major import sources It contains 25 essential minerals including tungsten, germanium, magnesium, barite, antimony, most rare earth elements, indium, graphite, gallium and arsenic.
This is just the latest in a series of export restrictive measures introduced over the past year.
In December, China banned the export of manufacturing technology for rare earth magnets, having earlier also banned the export of technology for extracting and separating key substances.
Last year, China imposed export controls on gallium, germanium and graphite as part of a retaliatory trade war after the U.S. restricted exports of advanced semiconductor chips to China.
“In the first Cold War with the Soviets, we countered them by not importing items that were critical to our national security,” said Rob Greenway, a former National Security Council official. “We were generally a net exporter. Since we've become generally a net importer, we've had huge vulnerabilities, and our regulatory structure is just not equipped to handle them.”
Antimony, a little-known metal often used as a flame retardant, is mined at sites like these and used in ammunition, infrared missiles, nuclear weapons, night vision goggles, and even batteries and solar power devices. China produced nearly half the world's antimony last year.
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Last year, China under Xi Jinping imposed export controls on gallium, germanium and graphite as part of a retaliatory trade war after the United States restricted exports of advanced semiconductor chips to China.
“Our partners — Japan, South Korea, the Scandinavian countries, Central America — not only have the same problems, they're very frustrated because we're not making it easy for them,” continued Greenway, now director of the Allison Center for National Security. “In some cases, we're making it easy for China. We tax Taiwanese exports, including semiconductors, more heavily than Chinese exports.”
Antimony prices have nearly doubled this year to a record high of $22,750 a tonne and are expected to rise further due to the export restrictions.
The new rules require distributors to apply for approval from the Chinese government through licenses to sell relevant dual-use goods and technologies, a process that typically takes nearly three months.
“China's new restrictions on antimony, which is used in everything from night vision goggles to nuclear weapons to tanks, will require exporters to apply for specific licenses that the Chinese Communist Party could delay or deny outright,” said Rep. Rob Wittman, a Republican from Virginia who leads the Congressional Working Group on Critical Minerals Policy.
“As the largest producer and processor of antimony, the Chinese Communist Party is using the same tactics it used with gallium and germanium to demonstrate its market power and put Western economies at risk. This is why we must diversify critical minerals supply chains away from China.”
Perpetua Resources, a US-based company, is seeking to produce antimony domestically with the backing of the Department of Defense and the US Export-Import Bank. The company faces opposition from environmental groups and, if permitted later this year, first production is scheduled for 2028.
But Chinese regulations are forcing the company to look for ways to speed up production.
“We are looking to source antimony more quickly during construction to meet these strategic needs,” Perpetua Chief Executive John Cherry told Reuters.
“The (U.S.) Department of Defense recognizes the importance of antimony and the supply shortage. We're hearing from various sources about the antimony supply shortage, that the market is very tight and getting tighter every day.”
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In a move that has received little attention, China is also lImitating the export of super abrasives, Industrial diamonds, the hardest material in the world, and the machinery that makes them are used in a variety of U.S. industries and are essential in the defense and energy sectors.
“This has the power to really destroy the U.S. economy. It's really frightening,” said Nazak Nikaktar, a former senior Commerce Department official.
“This is not a sexy field, but we have a national security imperative to alert the world and build capabilities in the United States. [of superabrasives] It will take two to three years to support the defense industrial base.”
