Beijing’s announcement of new restrictions on antimony, essential to ammunition production and other vital industries, underscores the urgent need to diversify critical minerals and materials supply chains.
Washington, D.C.—Beijing announced Thursday that it will require licenses for exports on antimony products, essential to ammunition production, starting Sept. 15. This is the latest restriction imposed by the CCP on strategic minerals and materials, including gallium and germanium, both critical to production of microchips, fiber optic cables, solar cells, and other foundational components of everyday life.
License requirements enable Beijing to gather specific information on critical material flows to U.S. buyers, allowing for more targeted future actions, such as selective export restrictions aimed at the defense industrial base or a strategic competitor. In response, SAFE issued the following statement:
Abigail Hunter, Executive Director, SAFE’s Center for Critical Minerals Strategy:
“Beijing’s latest export control should not come as a surprise. The Chinese Communist Party continues to weaponize China’s monopolization of critical minerals supply chains. This is only the most recent move in a frightening trend of America’s and our allies’ largest geopolitical and economic rival leveraging its chokehold over materials essential for defense and commercial production to further its geopolitical aims.
“Washington must stop getting caught flat footed and commit to a true industrial policy, coordinated with allies, to secure mineral supply chains for defense and critical infrastructure. We must pivot from a reactive footing to developing proactive policy.”
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SAFE’s Center for Critical Minerals Strategy (Minerals Center) aims to secure all aspects of the critical minerals supply chain to help ensure the national and economic security of the United States and our allies as we transition to a minerals-based economy. The Minerals Center is the sole NGO partner for private sector engagement to the U.S. State Department’s Mineral Security Partnership. The Center is also home to the Sub-Committee on Opportunities and Risks in the Critical Mineral Sector (SCOR) project with five leading mining investment firms.
SAFE is an action-oriented, nonpartisan organization committed to transportation, energy, and supply chain policies that advance the economic and national security of the United States, its partners, and allies. Since 2004, SAFE has worked with its Energy Security Leadership Council—a peerless coalition of current and former Fortune 500 CEOs and retired 4-star admirals and generals—to support secure, resilient, and sustainable energy solutions. Learn more at SecureEnergy.org.
