China‘s commerce ministry on Thursday mentioned latest curbs on important chip-making metals weren’t aimed toward any particular nation and that they didn’t symbolize a “ban on exports”.
This week, Chinese authorities mentioned exports of gallium and germanium — essential for the manufacturing of semiconductors — would require a license and declaration of their last recipient from August 1, citing nationwide safety considerations.
The export curbs comply with Washington’s blacklisting of Chinese firms in recent times, aimed toward slicing them off from entry to U.S. applied sciences, together with probably the most superior chips.
They additionally got here only a few days earlier than a visit to Beijing by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, throughout which ongoing U.S.-China commerce tensions are anticipated to be on the high of the agenda.
“The Chinese government is not targeting any particular country in implementing these export controls,” commerce ministry spokeswoman Shu Jueting mentioned at a press briefing on Thursday.
She added that China had notified the European Union and the United States previous to asserting the controls.
“The export control is not a ban on exports, and permits will be granted if the exports comply with the relevant regulations,” Shu mentioned.
Gallium — present in built-in circuits, LEDs and photo voltaic panels, amongst different issues — is taken into account a crucial uncooked materials by the EU.
China accounted for 80 p.c of worldwide gallium manufacturing, in keeping with a 2020 report by the European Commission.
Germanium is important for making optical fibres and infrared digital camera lenses, with 80 p.c of it additionally coming from China, in keeping with the identical report.
Beijing and Washington have tussled in recent times over the worldwide marketplace for chips.
The United States has tightened export restrictions on semiconductors in latest months and is pushing its allies to do the identical.
From September, the Netherlands will impose restrictions on the export of applied sciences meant for the manufacture of digital chips.
Shu on Thursday accused Washington of “abusing export control measures to continuously strengthen its crackdown on China’s semiconductors and artificially segregate the global semiconductor market”.
Source: www.anews.com.tr
