China proposes fresh export curbs on EV technology
By Juliana Liu, CNN
Hong Kong (CNN) — Beijing is planning to curb the export of technology used to extract minerals critical for the growth of the global electric vehicle (EV) industry, as a tech rivalry with Washington escalates ahead of the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump later this month.
China also wants to add battery cathode technology to its list of controlled exports, according to a notice published Thursday by the Commerce Ministry soliciting public comment, on top of the proposed restrictions on technology related to producing lithium and gallium.
If approved, as is likely, the new additions are expected to form a future round of export controls imposed by China on a slew of critical materials and the technology needed to produce them, which are crucial to manufacturing semiconductors and EV batteries.
The aim of the measure is “to strengthen technology import and export management,” the official Xinhua News Agency reported on Thursday.
Asked about the proposal Friday during a regular press conference, Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry, said: “What we can tell you as a principle is that China implements fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory export control measures.”
The plan was announced a month after China banned outright the sale of a number of materials crucial for the production of semiconductors and other tech — including gallium, germanium, antimony and other “super hard” materials — to the US. That was in response to fresh export controls on US-made semiconductors imposed by the outgoing Joe Biden administration.
Adam Webb, head of battery raw materials at consultancy Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, told Reuters news agency that China’s proposal would help it retain its “70% grip” on the global processing of lithium.
“These proposed measures would be a move to maintain this high market share and to secure lithium chemical production for China’s domestic battery supply chains,” he was quoted as saying.
China dominates the global industry for materials such as gallium, a soft metal commonly used to produce compounds that can make radio frequency chips for mobile phones and satellite communication. Lithium, another metal, is ubiquitous in daily life because it is used to make batteries for everything from smartphones and laptops to EVs.
While an iPhone needs only a small amount of lithium, an average EV battery needs about eight kilograms (18 pounds) of it. That’s why any new restriction on lithium extraction technology could be particularly important as global demand grows for electric cars. The International Energy Agency says the world is on track to meet only 50% of lithium demand by 2035.
Global demand for lithium-ion batteries is expected to soar over the next 10 years, McKinsey wrote in 2023, with the number of gigawatt hours required growing from about 700 in 2022 to around 4,700 by 2030.
Separately on Thursday, the Commerce Ministry added 28 US companies and entities, including major defense contractors Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Missiles & Defense, to its export control list for the first time.
The export control list, which regulates the sale of dual-use technology and is modeled on the US Commerce Department’s “Entity List,” was introduced in November.
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CNN’s Fred He contributed reporting.
