US - China Trade War Already Intensifying

Written by: Ned K. on 5 December 2024

Rivalry between USA and China has been well under way on many fronts, including trade.

This week the trade war took another turn. On Monday 2 December, the Biden Administration added another 146 Chinese entities to the trade blacklist.

Among the entities are large domestic chip toolmakers and semi-conductor manufacturing plants. According to the Wall Street Journal, this is the fourth time in three years that the US Government tried to restrict China's access to high performance semi-conductor technology.

Just three days later, the Chinese Government imposed a ban on export to the USA of rare earth metals gallium, germamium and antimony. 

Gallium is essential for production of semi-conductors and electronics manufacturing.

Germamium is vital in defence and space applications.

Antimony is a brittle silver-coloured metal used in rechargeable batteries, especially in car batteries.

In the last two years, US corporations imported nearly all gallium and nearly 50% of its required germanium. China has been a main supplier to the USA of these minerals. When US corporations cannot import enough of these minerals they have to rely on the US recycling industry of them for supply.

According to the Wall Street Journal, what surprised US authorities this time was the rapidity of China's retaliation with its new trade bans.

The trade war between the USA and China may intensify further under the Trump administration making job security for workers in the USA even worse than it is now.

As for China's rapid retaliatory response to the USA's expansion of its trade blacklist, this is arguably an indication that Chinese social-imperialism sees itself as more than a match for the huff and puff of its declining imperialist rival.

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