By Jorge Valverde, United Nations University

China recently banned the export of the minerals gallium and germanium to the US amid growing tensions between the two countries on trade.

The minerals are of critical economic value because they are used in computer chips, in military technology such as night vision goggles, and in the renewable energy industry, where they are important for manufacturing electric vehicles and solar cells. All of these areas are very sensitive sectors for the US and EU.

China has overwhelming market power over supply, because it is the source of 98% of primary gallium and 91% of primary germanium. Primary refers to “raw” sources such as mineral ore. In several sectors where the minerals are used, there are no substitutes for them.

Gallium and germanium are present in very low concentration as byproducts of major minerals – they’re known as trace minerals. Germanium’s primary source is the residue from zinc refineries and coal fly ash (a powdered residue produced when coal is burnt in power plants).

Gallium is mainly produced as a byproduct of bauxite ore (which is the main source for aluminium) as well as the processing stage to extract aluminium 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 curb exports of advanced chips to China that could be used in applications that threaten America’s security.

For example, advanced chips could be used in electronic warfare applications that make use of artificial intelligence (AI), or in advanced weapons systems such as hypersonic missiles. China said its ban on gallium and germanium was because of the minerals’ “dual military and civilian uses”.

According to a report in Reuters in 2023, the US Department of Defense holds a strategic stockpile of germanium, but no reserves of gallium. In October 2024, the US Geological Survey (USGS) estimated that a total ban on the export of gallium and germanium could result in a US$3.4 billion loss to US GDP.

The minerals’ uses extend far beyond national security applications. Gallium is used in solid-state lighting devices, including light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Germanium is used in optical fibres and as a catalyst to speed up the reactions used in manufacturing polyester and PLA (a bioplastic). The minerals are vital for making the electronic devices we depend on every day, such as smartphones, displays and laptops.

So what can the US do to circumvent the effects of the ban, given China’s near monopoly on the primary production of these critical minerals?

One route is for the US to re-start and expand domestic mining of these minerals. Indeed, the Pentagon has already indicated that this is being explored.

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Via https://activistpost.com/2024/12/china-has-banned-us-exports-of-key-minerals-for-computer-chips-leaving-washington-with-limited-options.html