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What are gallium and germanium, and why is China restricting their exports?

China is restricting exports of two niche metals that are key to manufacture electronics and semiconductors, as the tech battle with the U.S. and Europe heats up.

Germanium and gallium are the two metals in the spotlight.

But what and how crucial are they?

Why is China slapping export curbs on the metals?

China and the U.S. have been locked in a technology trade war that has been escalating since 2019. The U.S. has used trade blacklists and sweeping export restrictions to cut China off from key technology components and semiconductors or chips.

These critical pieces of tech have become a focal point in the battle between the two superpowers.

China has not retaliated much so far, but in May labelled U.S. chip firm Micron a “major security risk.” Now, Beijing is looking to areas it has some strength in — the metals and materials that go into electronics and semiconductors.

China’s commerce ministry on Monday said that new regulations will require exporters of gallium and germanium to get a license to ship the metals. Beijing brought in the new rules on national security grounds.

What are germanium and gallium?

Germanium and gallium are metals that are not found naturally. They are instead formed, usually as a by-product of the refineries of other metals.

Germanium, a silvery-white metal, is formed as by-product of zinc production. Fellow soft, silvery metal Gallium, meanwhile, is a by-product of processing bauxite and zinc ores.

What are germanium and gallium used for?

Germanium has several uses, including in solar products and fiber optics. The metal is transparent to infrared radiation and can be employed in military applications, such as night-vision goggles.

The solar panels that contain germanium have applications in space.

Gallium is used for manufacturing the gallium arsenide chemical compound, which can make radio frequency chips for mobile phones and satellite communication, for example. That compound is also a key material in semiconductors.

Which country produces the metals?

China produces 60% of the world’s germanium and 80% of gallium, according to the Critical Raw Materials Alliance, an industry body.

Gallium arsenide is complex to produce, and only a few companies in the world can do so. One is located in Europe, while the others are in Japan and China, the CRM Alliance says.

How big of a deal are China’s curbs?

“A warning shot, not a death blow,” Eurasia Group said in a note on Monday.

“But these latest measures are more limited in scope, and while the new rules require Chinese exporters to first obtain a license, no language automatically bars export to specific countries or end-users.”

The U.S. and Europe don’t import huge amounts of these materials. The U.S. received $5 million of gallium metal and $220 million of gallium arsenide in 2022, according to government figures.

Germanium intake was higher, with the country taking $60 million of the metal, while the EU imported $130 million of Germanium in 2022, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Other countries are also able to produce these metals. Belgium, Canada, Germany, Japan, and Ukraine can manufacture germanium. Japan, South Korea, Ukraine, Russia and Germany meanwhile produce gallium.

There are also potential substitutes for these metals.

China’s scale allowed it to produce them at a lower cost than elsewhere, but Eurasia Group notes that Beijing’s moves will have a “limited impact on global supply given the targeted scope.”

“It is a shot across the bow intended to remind countries including the United States, Japan, and the Netherlands that China has retaliatory options and to thereby deter them from imposing further restrictions on Chinese access to high-end chips and tools,” Eurasia Group said.

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CNBC Daily Open: A chance for peace in the Middle East and the U.S.-China trade war

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CNBC Daily Open: A chance for peace in the Middle East and the U.S.-China trade war

U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he poses next to a sign before a family photo at a world leaders’ summit on ending the Gaza war, amid a U.S.-brokered prisoner-hostage swap and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Oct. 13, 2025.

Suzanne Plunkett | Reuters

This might not be Christmas, but the war in the Middle East is over — at least according to U.S. President Donald Trump.

On Monday, Trump declared at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, that the “long and painful nightmare” was finally over for both the Israelis and Palestinians. More straightforwardly, Trump gave an unequivocal “yes” when asked by reporters if the war in the Middle East has ended, Reuters reported.

A similarly hopeful mood permeated markets, though for different reasons. After hitting China with 100% additional tariffs and triggering a sell-off on Friday, Trump appeared to walk back his stance, posting on Truth Social that “it will all be fine” with China.

And thus was TACO back on traders’ menus: Major U.S. stock indexes rebounded, with technology stocks leading the charge. Quantum computing names popped after JPMorgan Chase announced it will be investing $10 billion in sectors crucial to national interests.

Broadcom, meanwhile, surged almost 10% after it jointly announced a partnership with — who else? — OpenAI to build and deploy custom chips. But where this puts Nvidia, OpenAI’s other near and dear one, and on whose chips the ChatGPT maker relies, remains a question.

Though Christmas has yet to arrive, OpenAI is starting to look like the tech sector’s Santa Claus, who has his sack full of presents — and, more importantly, cash, according to Oracle.

— CNBC’s Holly Ellyatt contributed to this report.

What you need to know today

And finally…

U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Argentina’s President Javier Milei during the 80th United Nations General Assembly, in New York City, New York, U.S., Sept. 23, 2025.

Alexander Drago | Reuters

The U.S. has stepped in with an extraordinary bailout of Argentina. Here’s what it means

In a move that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Thursday on social media site X, the U.S. is providing a $20 billion currency swap line with Argentina’s central bank — essentially exchanging stable U.S. dollars with volatile pesos.

The move comes amid liquidity concerns in Argentina that threatened stability for the country as it faces key midterm elections. There are equal parts economic and political stakes with the venture, which marks the first U.S. intervention of this nature since rescuing Mexico in 1995.

Jeff Cox

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Google to invest $15 billion to build data center hub in India; largest outside of the U.S.

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Google to invest  billion to build data center hub in India; largest outside of the U.S.

Prakash Singh | AFP | Getty Images

Google will invest $15 billion to build data center capacity for a new artificial intelligence hub in southern India, Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian announced at an event Tuesday.

The investment will roll out over the next five years, and will be Google’s largest AI hub in the world outside of the U.S, Kurian added.

Earlier on Monday, the Minister for Human Resources Development of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, Nara Lokesh, put the 1-gigawatt project at $10 billion. 

The deal comes after “a year of intense discussions and relentless effort,” and “is just the beginning,” Lokesh said in a post on the social media platform X. 

The Indian outlet Economic Times previously reported that the investment would be made by Google’s Indian subsidiary Raiden Infotech, which plans to develop three campuses across the city of Visakhapatnam.

According to another report from ET on Tuesday, state officials planned to continue doubling down on such projects and to significantly scale up the state’s computing capacity over the next three years.

Companies are amping up investments in infrastructure to keep pace with surging global demand for cloud services as AI services become increasingly popular.

As part of its second-quarter earnings in July, Google increased its forecast for capital expenditures in 2025 to $85 billion, up from $75 billion in February, due to “strong and growing demand for our Cloud products and services.”

That same month, the company also announced plans to invest $25 billion in data center and artificial intelligence infrastructure over the next two years in states across the biggest electric grid in the U.S.

India is increasingly attracting multinational players, such as Microsoft and AWS, to invest in the country’s cloud and AI infrastructure.

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CNBC Daily Open: There’s a hopeful mood in the Middle East and the markets

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CNBC Daily Open: There's a hopeful mood in the Middle East and the markets

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks while World leaders listen during a summit of European and Middle Eastern leaders on Gaza on October 13, 2025 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images

This might not be Christmas, but the war in the Middle East is over — at least according to U.S. President Donald Trump.

On Monday, Trump declared at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, that the “long and painful nightmare” was finally over for both the Israelis and Palestinians. More straightforwardly, Trump gave an unequivocal “yes” when asked by reporters if the war in the Middle East has ended, Reuters reported.

A similarly hopeful mood permeated markets, though for different reasons. After hitting China with 100% additional tariffs and triggering a sell-off on Friday, Trump appeared to walk back his stance, posting on Truth Social that “it will all be fine” with China.

And thus was TACO back on traders’ menus: Major U.S. stock indexes rebounded, with technology stocks leading the charge. Quantum computing names popped after JPMorgan Chase announced it will be investing $10 billion in sectors crucial to national interests.

Broadcom, meanwhile, surged almost 10% after it jointly announced a partnership with — who else? — OpenAI to build and deploy custom chips. But where this puts Nvidia, OpenAI’s other near and dear one, and on whose chips the ChatGPT maker relies, remains a question.

Though Christmas has yet to arrive, OpenAI is starting to look like the tech sector’s Santa Claus.

— CNBC’s Holly Ellyatt contributed to this report.

What you need to know today

War in the Middle East is over, Trump says. At Israel’s parliament, Trump gave a speech in which he said that the “long and painful nightmare” for both the Israelis and Palestinians was over. He also urged, at a separate event, for leaders to put “old feuds” behind.

Broadcom joins the OpenAI party. The two companies announced Monday that they’re planning to develop and deploy OpenAI-designed chips, amounting to 10 gigawatts, starting late next year. Shares of Broadcom popped almost 10% on the news.

JPMorgan says it will invest $10 billion in critical industries. The four areas of focus — which the bank considers crucial to U.S. security — are: defense and aerospace, “frontier” technologies such as AI, energy technology and supply chain and advanced manufacturing.

Stocks claw back some losses. On Monday stateside, major U.S. stock indexes rose, rebounding from Friday’s carnage. The S&P 500 regained 56% of Friday’s decline. Europe’s Stoxx 600 index climbed 0.44%, lifted by mining stocks.

[PRO] European sectors less affected by trade war. The continent isn’t in the crosshairs of Trump’s latest tariffs, but a weakening U.S. dollar could affect Europe’s exports. UBS picks three sectors more shielded from that — leaving out a notable one.

And finally…

U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Argentina’s President Javier Milei during the 80th United Nations General Assembly, in New York City, New York, U.S., Sept. 23, 2025.

Alexander Drago | Reuters

The U.S. has stepped in with an extraordinary bailout of Argentina. Here’s what it means

In a move that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Thursday on social media site X, the U.S. is providing a $20 billion currency swap line with Argentina’s central bank — essentially exchanging stable U.S. dollars with volatile pesos.

The move comes amid liquidity concerns in Argentina that threatened stability for the country as it faces key midterm elections. There are equal parts economic and political stakes with the venture, which marks the first U.S. intervention of this nature since rescuing Mexico in 1995.

Jeff Cox

Continue Reading

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