The critical minerals war is escalating. China’s response to US President Donald Trump’s 10% tariff hike on Chinese imports includes restricting exports of another five esoteric components of the periodic table.
Exports of bismuth, indium, molybdenum, tellurium and tungsten will only be allowed subject to Ministry of Commerce approval they will not be used in military applications. That’s a big problem for tungsten in particular. In a world where just about every metal is critical for someone, the word may be losing its meaning, as my colleague Clyde Russell has argued.
But, for want of a better word, tungsten is a critical component of the 21st-century industrial supply chain, both civilian and military. So critical indeed that users are starting to embrace new pricing mechanisms to guarantee non-Chinese supply.
Green ammo
Tungsten has the highest melting point of any element, is extremely hard and has good electrical and thermal conductivity.
For the rest of this column: https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/tungsten-tipped-answer-wests-critical-metals-dilemma-andy-home-2025-02-19/