CHINA WATCHChina, U.S. Escalate Trade-Restrictions War
The Chinese government announced Friday that it would tighten export controls on graphite, a material essential to the construction of batteries used in electric cars and other green energy systems and of which China is the world’s preeminent supplier. The move came days after the Biden administration announced that the United States would widen the list of semiconductors that it prevents from being exported to China.
The Chinese government announced Friday that it would tighten export controls on graphite, a material essential to the construction of batteries used in electric cars and other green energy systems and of which China is the world’s preeminent supplier.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce described the new restrictions as “conducive to ensuring the security and stability of the global supply chain and industrial chain, and conducive to better safeguarding national security and interests.”
The move came days after the Biden administration announced that the United States would widen the list of semiconductors that it prevents from being exported to China. The restrictions will now include certain chips made by Nvidia that are widely used in the development of artificial intelligence.
U.S. officials had described the changes to the semiconductor export restrictions as relatively minor ones, meant to close “loopholes” in earlier policy statements.
Careful Dance
Experts told VOA that the interaction between the U.S. and China on trade had shifted somewhat in recent months, as the two countries seek a new equilibrium.
As the two largest economies in the world, the U.S. and China have trade ties that are both broad and deep, and despite sometimes acrimonious exchanges between their leaders, the total volume of trade between the two countries is as high today as it has ever been.
Lily McElwee, who holds the Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the way that the new measures were rolled out illustrated the changing way in which the U.S. and China communicate about trade policy.
“It is worth noting that both moves were somewhat expected,” McElwee wrote in an email exchange. “In this sense, the U.S. and China have moved into new terrain with this latest set of restrictions. Beijing knew the updated set of rules on the October 2022 AI chip controls was coming, because U.S. officials took steps to socialize the updates with Chinese counterparts.”
McElwee said the existence of joint working groups that evolved after visits to China by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo earlier this year might signal that advance warning about new restrictions may become the norm between Washington and Beijing.
