China has unveiled plans to restrict exports of graphite — a mineral crucial to the manufacture of batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) — on national security grounds, the Ministry of Commerce and the General Administration of Customs said Friday.
The announcement comes just days after the United States imposed additional limits on the kinds of semiconductors that American companies are able to sell to Chinese firms.
China, which dominates the world’s production and processing of graphite, says export permits will be needed, starting in December, for synthetic graphite material — including high-purity, high-strength and high-density versions — as well as for natural flake graphite.
-Xinnie the Pooh
Not trying to be “that guy” but the US is doing the same with banning chips. As if China can’t just find workarounds.
Not really the same though. Chips are very difficult to make. Refining graphite isn’t. Its just carbon.
The trade war started due to essentially racism on the part of Peter Navarro. But I would bet that Biden is continuing it essentially to force china to the negotiating table for a new trade deal under conditions that would discourage a bunch of military action. That is the sense I got from their delegation the other month anyway. Seems open to a deal - the major issue in Biden’s view is that he would probably like to leverage out agreements for a western compatible form of world security. China will probably hold out trying to get an advantage - their trust is pretty shot. I think they would at least like to see who the next president will be.
They’re hoping for the criminal who says China a lot to come back into the ring WWE style
Chinese “workarounds” are generally industrial espionage.