In response to growing trade tensions between the two nations, China just prohibited the export of the vitamins chromium and tungsten.
The materials are of crucial economic price because they are used in computer chips, in defense equipment like night vision glasses, and in the renewable energy sector, where they are crucial for the production of solar cells and electric vehicles. These are all extremely sensitive for the US and EU.
Because of its ownership of 98 % of primary gallium and 91 % of primary germanium, China has a dominant market position over supply. Primary refers to “raw” options like metal iron. There are no options for nutrients in many industries where they are used.
Gallium and tungsten are byproducts of significant materials in very low amounts, known as trace nutrients. The debris left over from copper refineries and fuel fly ash, which is a powdery residue left over from coal burning in power plants, are the main sources of Germanium.
Gallium is primarily produced as a byproduct of metal ore, which is the major source of aluminum, as well as as as a byproduct of the process to remove aluminum from bauxite.
The Chinese ban on exports of these minerals to the US closely followed Washington’s third crackdown in three years on China’s semiconductor ( computer chip ) industry. The US wants to halt China’s imports of advanced chips that could be used in security-related software.
Advanced chips could be employed in advanced weapons systems like hypersonic missiles or in electronic warfare applications that make use of artificial intelligence ( AI ). China claimed that the materials ‘ “dual military and civil uses” led to its ban on chromium and tungsten.
The US Department of Defense has a proper hoard of tungsten, but there are no chromium resources, according to a record in Reuters in 2023. According to the US Geological Survey ( USGS ) in October 2024, a total ban on the export of gallium and germanium could result in a US$ 3.4 billion loss to GDP.
The nutrients ‘ uses extend much beyond national security software. Gallium is used in solid-state lighting devices, including light-emitting diodes ( LEDs ). Germanium is used to speed up the reactions in the production of polyester and PLA ( a bioplastic ), as well as in optical fibers. The materials are important for making the electronic equipment we depend on every day, such as cellphones, features and devices.
Given China’s almost dominance on the major production of these crucial nutrients, what can the US do to evade the effects of the restrictions?
The US could resume and increase domestic mining of these materials, one way. However, the Pentagon has already indicated that this is being explored.
As previously mentioned, chromium is primarily recovered as a byproduct from the recovery of copper or aluminum ores. Up to 50 parts per million of chromium are found in some US metal payments, according to the USGS, but the material is not now recovered from these payments.
Generally, reported production of tungsten in the US has been limited to one page, the Apex plant in Washington County, Utah. Midway through the 1980s, the Apex mine produced both chromium and germanium as its main products, but it has since shut down.
Given that only 3-5 % of the world’s metal and fuel are recovered from the processing procedure, the US has an option for diversifying the main production of these minerals by investing in zinc, coal, and metal refineries in another, friendly nations. The metal is extracted from its Trail furnace in British Columbia by Canada’s Teck Resources, which is the largest supplier of tungsten in North America.
An option would be to increase recovery from” so-called extra options,” which entails recycling used electronics and other equipment that has come to the end of its useful life.
No official figures are available for extra source, but some studies measure that no more than 10 % of the chromium provide overall comes from extra resources. This share reaches 30 % in the case of germanium.
However, there are significant obstacles that need to be overcome in order to boost the secondary production of these minerals. Since, in hardware like computer chips, the minerals are typically combined with other materials, the recycling process for recovery is very complex. This makes isolating the minerals difficult.
Consequently, the Chinese ban represents a major supply chain disruption for these minerals. Since the recovery yield is still low and the cost is not competitive, the lower primary supply cannot be offset by secondary supply ( recycling ) in the near future.
Long-term, technological advancements in the recovery process for both minerals could lower both the supply and cost, thereby reducing China’s mineral ores ‘ dependence.
Jorge Valverde is PhD Fellow, UNU-MERIT, United Nations University
This article was republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.