中國禁止向美國出口鎵、鍺、銻以應對晶片製裁 (1/2)

Recently Yahoo News on-line picked up the following:

China bans exports to US of gallium, germanium, antimony in response to chip sanctions (1/2)

Elaine Kurtenbach

Tue, December 3, 2024 at 8:13 p.m. GMT+8·4 min read

BANGKOK (AP) — China announced Tuesday it is banning exports to the United States of gallium, germanium, antimony and other key high-tech materials with potential military applications, as a general principle, lashing back at U.S. limits on semiconductor-related exports.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry announced the move after the Washington expanded its list of Chinese companies subject to export controls on computer chip-making equipment, software and high-bandwidth memory chips. Such chips are needed for advanced applications.

The ratcheting up of trade restrictions comes as President-elect Donald Trump has been threatening to sharply raise tariffs on imports from China and other countries, potentially intensifying simmering tensions over trade and technology.

China's Foreign Ministry also issued a vehement reproof.

“China has lodged stern protests with the U.S. for its update of the semiconductor export control measures, sanctions against Chinese companies, and malicious suppression of China’s technological progress," Lin Jian, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said in a routine briefing Tuesday.

"I want to reiterate that China firmly opposes the U.S. overstretching the concept of national security, abuse of export control measures, and illegal unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction against Chinese companies,” Lin said.

The minerals sourced in China are used in computer chips, cars and other products

China said in July 2023 it would require exporters to apply for licenses to send to the U.S. the strategically important materials such as gallium and germanium. In August, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said it would restrict exports of antimony, which is used in a wide range of products from batteries to weapons, and impose tighter controls on exports of graphite.

Such minerals are considered critical for national security. China is a major producer of antimony, which is used in flame retardants, batteries, night-vision goggles and nuclear weapon production, according to a 2021 U.S. International Trade Commission report.

The limits announced by Beijing on Tuesday also include exports of super-hard materials, such as diamonds and other synthetic materials that are not compressible and extremely dense. They are used in many industrial areas such as cutting tools, disc brakes and protective coatings. The licensing requirements that China announced in August also covered smelting and separation technology and machinery and other items related to such super-hard materials.

China is the biggest global source of gallium and germanium, which are produced in small amounts but are needed to make computer chips for mobile phones, cars and other products, as well as solar panels and military technology.

China says it's protecting itself from US trade restrictions

(to be continued)

Translation

中國禁止向美國出口鎵、鍺、銻以應對晶片製裁 (1/2)

曼谷（美聯社）—中國週二宣布，作為一般原則，禁止向美國出口鎵、鍺、銻和其他具有潛在軍事用途的關鍵高科技材料，並對美國對半導體相關出口的限制進行回擊。

在華盛頓擴大了受電腦晶片製造設備、軟體和高頻寬記憶體晶片出口管制的中國公司名單之後，中國商務部宣布了這項決定。高級應用是需要此類晶片。

貿易限制加大的來臨，正值當選總統特朗普一直威脅要大幅提高來自中國和其他國家的進口關稅，這可能會加劇貿易和技術方面的緊張局勢。

中國外交部對限制也予以嚴厲譴責。

中國外交部發言人Lin Jian週二在例行記者會上表示，中方已就美方更新半導體出口管制措施、制裁中國企業、惡意打壓中國科技進步提出嚴正抗議。

Lin説: 「我想重申，中方堅決反對美方過度伸延國家安全理念，濫用出口管制措施，對中國企業實施非法單邊制裁和長臂管轄」。

來自中國的礦物用於電腦晶片、汽車和其他產品

中國在 2023 年 7 月表示，將要求出口商申請許可證, 才能向美國運送鎵和鍺等具有戰略意義的材料。 8月，中國商務部表示將限制銻的出口，銻用於從電池到武器等多種產品，並對石墨的出口實施更嚴格的控制。

此類礦物被認為對國家安全至關重要。根據美國國際貿易委員會 2021 年的報告，中國是銻的主要生產國，銻用於阻燃劑、電池、夜視鏡和核武的生產。

北京周二宣布的限制還包括超硬材料的出口，例如鑽石和其他不可壓縮且密度極高的合成材料。它們用於許多工業領域，例如切削工具、碟式煞車和防護塗層。中國8月宣布的許可要求也涵蓋了與此類超硬材料相關的冶煉和分離技術以及機械等項目。

中國是全球最大的鎵和鍺生產國，這些金屬的產量雖小，但在製造電腦晶片供手機, 汽車和其他產品，以及太陽能板和軍事技術上是須要使用它。

中國表示正在保護自己免受美國貿易限制的影響

（待續）

Note:

1. High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) (高頻寬記憶) is a computer memory interface for 3D-stacked synchronous dynamic random-access memory (SDRAM) initially from Samsung, AMD and SK Hynix. It is used in conjunction with high-performance graphics accelerators, network devices, high-performance datacenter AI ASICs, as on-package cache in CPUs and on-package RAM in upcoming CPUs, and FPGAs and in some supercomputers. (Wikipedia)