Newsman: China has announced Tuesday that it’s immediately implementing export restrictions on the five critical metals used in defence, clean energy, and other industries. The move comes in response to President Trump’s announcement on Friday of a blanket 10% additional tariff on Chinese imports. China’s finance ministry also announced additional tariffs on US goods. Starting February 10 the fresh duties, announced by China’s Ministry of Finance, levy a 15% tax on certain types of coal and liquefied natural gas and a 10% tariff on crude oil, agricultural machinery, large-displacement cars and pickup trucks. The measures take effect on February 10.
This announcement came minutes after President Donald Trump’s additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods took effect. It’s part of China’s response to the tariffs, which also includes adding tariffs to U.S. imports like coal, crude oil and farm equipment.
After banning exports of gallium, germanium and antimony in December,Beijing’s new export controls target tungsten, tellurium, bismuth, indium, and molybdenum, stating that export licenses will only be granted to companies complying with “relevant regulations.” However, the Chinese government has not provided details about the specific criteria for compliance.
The Ministry of Commerce and China’s customs administration also announced new export controls effective immediately on more than two dozen metal products and related technologies. Those include tungsten, a critical mineral typically used in industrial and defense applications, as well as tellurium, which can be used to make solar cells.
The ministry also said it was adding two American firms — biotech company Illumina and fashion retailer PVH Group, owner of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger — to its unreliable entities list, saying they “violated normal market trading principles.”
A Ministry of Commerce spokesperson said Tuesday that it found PVH discriminated against and interfered with the operations of Chinese companies, though the spokesperson failed to provide specifics.
PVH criticized the decision and said it would work with Chinese authorities to resolve the situation.
“We are surprised and deeply disappointed to learn of the decision from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce,” a spokesperson for PVH said in a statement. “In our 20 years of operating in China and proudly serving our consumers, as a matter of policy, PVH maintains strict compliance with all relevant laws and regulations and operates in line with established industry standards and practices.”
In a separate statement, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation said it was initiating an investigation into Google for suspected violation of its anti-monopoly. The company, whose search engine is not available in China, has minimal operations in the country.
“The measures are fairly modest, at least relative to US moves, and have clearly been calibrated to try to send a message to the US (and domestic audiences) without inflicting too much damage,” Julian Evans-Pritchard, head of China Economics at financial insight firm Capital Economics, said in a research note Tuesday.
The Chinese tariffs target at most $20 billion of the country’s annual imports from the US, about 12% of the total, which is “a far cry” from the more than $450 billion in Chinese goods being targeted by the US, he added.
Beijing had slammed those tariffs in a statement Sunday and vowed to “resolutely defend its rights” by filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and taking “corresponding countermeasures.”
In a statement Tuesday, China’s commerce ministry confirmed that it had brought the Trump administration’s tariff measures to the WTO dispute settlement mechanism.
“The US practice seriously undermines the rules-based multilateral trading system, undermines the foundation of economic and trade cooperation between China and the United States, and disrupts the stability of the global industrial chain and supply chain,” the ministry said
China produced 80% of the world’s tungsten in 2023. The material hasn’t been mined commercially in the U.S. since 2015. A U.S. company called Guardian Metal Resources is now working on developing a domestic tungsten deposit in Nevada.
It produced about 67% of the world’s tellurium, excluding the United States’ production. The U.S. has two electrolytic copper refineries that produce copper telluride, but they export it all for further processing.
China produced 80% of the world’s bismuth. The metal hasn’t been commercially refined in the U.S. since 1997.
China produced about 42% of the world’s molybdenum. The U.S. produced 12%.
China produced about 66% of the world’s indium. The U.S. didn’t produce any in 2023.
