," Beijing said on Monday it would limit exports of products made from the minor metals of gallium and germanium to protect national security. That followed the U.S. decision to impose export restrictions to curb China's access to key technologies used for artificial intelligence .
In a separate but related industry, China has about one-third of the world's rare earth reserves, key to production of EV batteries and electronics. It has at least 85% of the world's capacity to process rare earths into material manufacturers can use, a capability other countries want to develop. Netherlands-based Nyrstar, majority owned by trading and logistics company Trafigura, said it was looking at germanium and gallium projects in Australia, Europe and the United States to help ease shortages created by China's curbs.said it always aims to have a diversified supplier base and "as a next step we will make an in-depth analysis of the effect of these measures, and the implications on Ericsson.
"Export controls accelerate, or are an accelerator, for countries including Taiwan, South Korea and Japan to reduce our dependence on China's supply of those critical materials," said Taiwan deputy foreign minister Roy Lee.