China Makes Strategic Move: Lifts Gallium & Germanium Export Ban, Suspends US Shipping Investigations

In a surprise pivot, China removes critical tech metal export restrictions—just as global supply chains gasp for relief.

The gallium-germanium gambit: Beijing plays its tech-mineral cards while Washington's trade probes get shelved.

Market whispers: 'Resource diplomacy' trumps trade wars as China resets the semiconductor chessboard.

Bonus cynicism: Wall Street analysts already pricing in the next artificial shortage—because nothing fuels profits like controlled scarcity.

China halts dual-use material controls after Busan meeting

As part of the same trade de-escalation, Beijing has reversed its December 2024 decision to restrict the export of key high-strength materials, including antimony, synthetic diamonds, and boron nitrides, in addition to gallium and germanium.

These materials fall under China’s category of dual-use items, meaning they can be used in both civilian products and military systems. Their previous restriction was a direct response to Washington’s broader semiconductor export bans.

China also suspended strict checks that had been introduced on exports of graphite, rules that required U.S. buyers to explain exactly how and where the materials WOULD be used.

That rule, which came into effect last December, had made life harder for American companies needing the mineral for electric vehicle production and missile guidance systems. Those checks are now also on pause for a year.

These export relaxations don’t just happen out of nowhere. China controls a majority of the world’s production of critical minerals and rare earths, and it has used that dominance to push back during trade fights.

By pausing these restrictions, Beijing is temporarily lowering its weapon of economic leverage in exchange for U.S. concessions.

U.S. drops shipbuilding probe, China shelves port fee plan

While the minerals story grabbed headlines, the trade deal also included another major concession: Donald Trump’s administration has frozen its investigation into China’s shipbuilding industry.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) said in a statement that the probe was suspended at midnight Monday, with talks set to continue on unresolved issues. The USTR did not specify what those unresolved issues were, but said further discussions with Beijing will take place over the next twelve months.

Shortly after that, China’s Ministry of Transport followed up with its own announcement, confirming it was also putting its retaliatory measures on ice. That included halting a plan to impose extra port fees on vessels coming from the U.S., which had been scheduled to kick in this quarter.

These twin decisions remove immediate cost pressures for companies shipping goods between both countries. If the planned port fees had gone into effect, it would’ve raised freight costs and disrupted deliveries of key global commodities like oil, not to mention commercial goods.

The fee standoff had originally started in mid-October, when China announced its maritime investigation in direct response to the U.S. launching its own.

In addition to lifting those probes, Washington agreed to delay a September 29 rule that would’ve blacklisted Chinese firms’ subsidiaries by placing them on the U.S. entity list. This MOVE blocks them from doing business with American suppliers.

That rule has now been shelved, for the time being, as part of the broader understanding reached in Busan.

On the tariff side, Trump agreed to slash duties on Chinese imports by 10 percentage points, and to keep his “reciprocal tariffs,” originally scheduled to ramp up again, on hold until November 10, 2026.

That decision removes a key pressure point that’s been weighing on tech companies, manufacturers, and the global supply chain.

Claim your free seat in an exclusive crypto trading community - limited to 1,000 members.