Reuters was more than two minutes ahead of major rivals with news that China had banned exports to the United States of the critical minerals gallium, germanium and antimony, with immediate effect, a day after Washington’s latest crackdown on China’s semiconductor sector.
China’s move marked the latest escalation in trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies ahead of President-elect Donald Trump taking office next month and sparked fresh concern that Beijing could next target other critical minerals, including those with even broader usage such as nickel or cobalt.
