China said on Tuesday it would begin banning the export of some rare minerals to the United States, in an escalation of the tech war between the world’s two biggest powers.
China produces almost all the world’s supply of critical minerals needed to make advanced technologies such as semiconductors.
Beijing has been tightening its grip on the materials, also known as rare earths, in retaliation for U.S. export controls.
In October, China began requiring its exporters to disclose, step by step, how the minerals would be used in Western supply chains.
The move was the third significant action in the past three years in the Biden administration’s bid to prevent China from catching up to the United States in cutting-edge technologies.
Persons:
Biden
Organizations:
China’s Ministry of Commerce, Biden
Locations:
China, United States, Beijing