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 intensifyi
It’s a free, unclassified, pdf from a .mil. Treat it like an academic study and scroll to the conclusion. The takeaway is that unless we’ve let something slide since 1989 we produce enough Germanium for our own use and could scale it up properly in a large war scenario. And a quick check shows the companies they mention either still in operation or sold off in a bankruptcy and still in operation.
I’m not American nor am I commenting on what China’s decision means.
I simply shared some info on what these are used for.