TMTPOST -- China announced on Tuesday an export ban on several key minerals, in a tit-for-tat move after the U.S. government furthered its export controls on the semiconductor industry.

Credit：Xinhua News Agency

 China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced it made a decision to tighten the control over the export of relevant dual-use items to the United States, to safeguard national security and interests and fulfill non-proliferation and other international obligations. 

According to the announcement that came into effect on Tuesday, the export of dual-use items to U.S. military users or for military purposes is prohibited. In principle, the dual-use items related to gallium, germanium, antimony and superhard materials is not allowed to export to the United States, while stricter examinations on end-users and end-use purposes are to be conducted regarding exports of the dual-use item of graphite to the United States.

Any organization or individual from any country or region that, in violation of the above provisions, transfers or provides relevant dual-use items originating in China to the United States will be held legally responsible, the MOFCOM said in a statement.

Dual-use items mean goods, technologies and services that may be used for either civil or military purposes or to contribute to an increase in military potential, especially to design, develop, produce or use weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery.

The decision was made in accordance with Chinese laws including the Export Control Law of the People's Republic of China, a spokesperson with the MOFCOM responded to a media query on the latest move.

"In recent years, the United States has overstretched the concept of national security, politicized and weaponized economic and technological issues, abused export control measures, arbitrarily restricted the export of relevant products to China, and place a number of Chinese companies on the sanctions list to suppress and contain them," the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added that the U.S. practices seriously undermine international trade rules, the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises, as well as the stability of global industrial and supply chains.

The Chinese government is strongly  committed to promoting high-level opening-up and opposing any erroneous practice of generalization of the concept of national security, the spokesperson said. China is willing to strengthen dialogue with relevant countries and regions in the field of export control and jointly promote the security and stability of the global industrial chain and supply chain according to the spokesperson.

A White House spokesperson said on Tuesday that the US was still assessing China’s new restrictions and looking for ways to mitigate their impact, while adding that China’s move highlighted the need to diversify critical supply chains.

It is unsurprising that China, as a dominant producer of rare minerals, to hit back at United States' new semiconductor export control. Gallium, germanium, and antimony  are key to the production of semiconductor chips and other advanced technologies. China is the world's biggest producer of gallium and germanium, which are used to make computer chips, cars, solar panels and other products.

Monday saw the U.S Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) unveiled a package of rules designed to further impair China’s capability to produce advanced-node semiconductors that can be used in the next generation of advanced weapon systems and in artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing.

The rules include new controls on 24 types of semiconductor manufacturing equipment and 3 types of software tools for developing or producing semiconductors; new controls on high-bandwidth memory (HBM); new red flag guidance to address compliance and diversion concerns; 140 Entity List additions and 14 modifications spanning Chinese tool manufacturers, semiconductor fabs, and investment companies involved in advancing the Chinese government’s military modernization; and several critical regulatory changes to enhance the effectiveness of the previous controls, according to a press of the BIS.

China has lodged solemn representations with the United States over its latest control measures on semiconductor export and sanctions on Chinese companies, Lin Jian, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday.The Chinese side has urged the United States to respect the laws of market economy and the principle of fair competition, according to the spokesperson. “We will do what is necessary to firmly safeguard our security and development interests，”Lin said.