Gallium is a crucial component of US military radars, thus Beijing's latest export restrictions may not have a significant impact on the Pentagon's supply chain since American defense authorities will hunt for alternatives, according to experts.
As retaliation for US-backed sanctions on the Chinese semiconductor industry, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said this month that it will apply export limits on goods related to gallium and germanium starting on August 1 in order to protect "national security and interests," as reported by South China Morning Post.
Gallium in the US
The export of the strategic metals is subject to the regulations, and infractions could result in administrative sanctions or criminal prosecution. China's Ministry of Commerce stated that germanium and gallium items clearly served both military and civilian uses when announcing the limitations.
Gallium has long been a crucial component of US advanced defense systems and the military supply chain. It is widely utilized in advanced microelectronics, including semiconductors and LEDs. It has primarily been utilized in high-energy radars, including the AN/SPY-6 and AN/TPS-80 G/ATOR radars used by the US Navy and Marine Corps, respectively.
The AN/SPY-6 is a three-dimensional radar that will be installed on the most recent Arleigh Burke class destroyer, which is in charge of air and missile defense and uses the Aegis combat system.
The AN/TPS-80 G/ATOR is a 3D short- and medium-range radar that can also spot unmanned aerial vehicles, cruise missiles, targets that breathe air, rockets, and artillery. These systems' antennas and other crucial, hard-to-replace components are supported by gallium nitride (GaN) technology.
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Beijing's Plan to Disrupt the Defense Supply Chain
Beijing saw an opportunity to use Washington's "fear of vulnerability" against the US to boost its leverage, and one of its goals was to undermine the semiconductor export control in order to disrupt the defense supply chain.
As the US-China competition grows, radar systems have once again been the subject of geopolitical arm-wrestling.
Beijing retaliated with economic sanctions after South Korea deployed the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile defense system in 2016, claiming the radar system endangered China's security interests.
In September, amid rising tensions between Beijing and Taipei, Taiwan approved a US$412 million contract to Raytheon, a significant US aerospace and defense corporation, to improve and maintain surveillance radar. For its involvement in Taiwanese arms sales, Raytheon was subject to sanctions from Beijing in February.
Chinese researchers unveiled one of the most potent radars in the world in June. This radar can detect ballistic missiles as far away as 4,500 kilometers (2,800 miles), much beyond the range of standard radars, which typically operate within a few hundred kilometers.
The US Geological Survey states that the country exclusively depends on imports and has no local gallium production. On the other hand, in 2020 and 2021, China was responsible for more than 95 percent of global gallium production. Between 2018 and 2021, 53 percent of the metal imported into the US came from China.
The Pentagon declared it had a strategic stockpile of germanium but no inventory reserves of gallium in response to Beijing's export restrictions.
Each year, Japan and South Korea produced 3,000 kg and 2,000 kg of primary gallium, respectively. Germany halted producing the metal in 2016, but after noticing a spike in world prices, it declared it would start up again in 2021.
Following pressure from Washington about technology that could be used for military objectives, China has restricted the export of gallium.
China is no longer able to create and maintain supercomputers or produce advanced semiconductors for use in military applications due to limits established by the US Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security in October.
China, according to the bureau, utilized the prohibited materials to "produce advanced military systems, including weapons of mass destruction [and] improve the speed and accuracy of its military decision-making, planning, and logistics."
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