How US buyers of critical minerals bypass China’s export ban

BEIJING – Unusually large quantities of antimony, a metal used in batteries, chips and flame retardants, have poured into the United States from Thailand and Mexico since China barred US shipments in 2024. This is according to Customs and shipping records, which show at least one Chinese-owned company involved in the trade.

China dominates the supply of antimony as well as gallium and germanium, used in telecommunications, semiconductors and military technology.

Beijing banned exports of these minerals to the US on Dec 3 following Washington’s crackdown on China’s chip sector. 

The resulting shift in trade flows underscores the scramble for critical minerals and China's struggle to enforce its curbs as it vies with the US for economic, military and technological supremacy. 

Specifically, trade data illustrates a rerouting of US shipments via third countries – an issue Chinese officials have acknowledged.

Three industry experts corroborated that assessment, including two executives at two US companies who told Reuters they obtained restricted minerals from China in recent months.

The US imported 3,834 metric tonnes of antimony oxides from Thailand and Mexico between December and April, US Customs data show. That was more than almost the previous three years combined. 

Thailand and Mexico shot into the top three export markets for Chinese antimony in 2025, according to Chinese Customs data through May. Neither made the top 10 in 2023, the last full year before Beijing restricted exports. 

Thailand and Mexico each have a single antimony smelter, according to consultancy RFC Ambrian, and the latter's only reopened in April. Neither country mines meaningful quantities of the metal.

US imports of antimony, gallium and germanium in 2025 are on track to equal or exceed levels before the ban, albeit at higher prices.

Mr Ram Ben Tzion, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of digital shipment-vetting platform Publican, said while there was clear evidence of transhipment, trade data did not enable the identification of companies involved.

“It’s a pattern that we’re seeing and that pattern is consistent,” he added. Chinese companies, he noted, were “super creative in bypassing regulations”.

China’s Commerce Ministry said in May that unspecified overseas entities “colluded with domestic lawbreakers” to evade its export restrictions, and that stopping such activity was essential to national security.

US law does not bar American buyers from purchasing Chinese-origin antimony, gallium or germanium. Chinese firms can ship the minerals to countries other than the US if they have a licence.

Mr Levi Parker, CEO and founder of US-based Gallant Metals, told Reuters how he obtains about 200kg of gallium a month from China, without identifying the parties involved.

First, buying agents in China obtain the materials from producers. A shipping company routes the packages, relabelled variously as iron, zinc or art supplies, via another Asian country, he said. 

The workarounds are not perfect, nor cheap, Mr Parker added. He would like to import 500kg regularly but big shipments could draw scrutiny, and Chinese logistics firms are “very careful” because of the risks.

Brisk trade

Thai Unipet Industries, a Thailand-based subsidiary of Chinese antimony producer Youngsun Chemicals, has been doing brisk trade with the US in recent months, previously unreported shipping records reviewed by Reuters show.

Unipet shipped at least 3,366 tonnes of antimony products from Thailand to the US between December and May, according to 36 bills of lading recorded by trade platforms ImportYeti and Export Genius.

That was around 27 times the volume Unipet shipped in the same period a year earlier.

The records list the cargo, parties involved and ports of origin, but not necessarily the source of the raw material. They do not indicate specific evidence of transhipment.

The buyer of Unipet’s US shipments was Texas-based Youngsun & Essen, which before Beijing’s ban imported most of its antimony trioxide from Youngsun Chemicals.

China launched a campaign in May against the transhipment and smuggling of critical minerals.

Offenders can face fines and bans on future exports. Serious cases can be treated as smuggling and result in jail terms of more than five years, Mr James Hsiao, a Hong Kong-based partner at law firm White & Case, said.

The laws apply to Chinese firms even where transactions take place abroad, he added. In cases of transhipment, Chinese authorities can prosecute sellers that fail to conduct sufficient due diligence to determine the end user, Mr Hsiao noted.

Yet for anyone willing to take the risk, big profits are available overseas, where shortages have sent prices for gallium, germanium and antimony to record highs.

The three minerals were already subject to export licensing controls when Beijing banned exports to the US. China’s exports of antimony and germanium are still below levels hit before the restrictions, according to Chinese Customs data.

Beijing now faces a challenge to ensure its export-control regime has teeth, said Mr Ben Tzion.

“While having all these policies in place, their enforcement is a completely different scenario,” he added. REUTERS