China suspends US export ban on Ga and Ge and Sb
China has suspended a year-long ban on exports of gallium, germanium and antimony to the US. The ban was imposed in retaliation for US export controls on certain memory chips into China towards the end of the Biden administration.
China’s commerce ministry said it will pause these export bans on the minerals and related end-use items until November 27th, 2026.
Gallium and germanium are essential for many mainstream compound semiconductors, with antimomy also being proposed for novel optolectronics devices and memory in the case of the UK company Quinas' ULTRARAM.
The website Mining.com reports figures from the consultancy Project Blue that China accounted for almost half of the world’s mined antimony in 2023, as well as nearly 60 percent of global refined germanium production and 99 percent of refined gallium output.
Mining.com also quotes US Geological Survey estimates that the ban on gallium and germanium alone could result in a $3.4 billion hit to the US economy, with round half of the decrease from the semiconductor sector.
