{"text":[[{"start":0,"text":"The US will ban the export of certain used critical minerals as it steps up efforts to secure military supply chains and break away from a deep dependence on metals from China."}],[{"start":0,"text":"The Bureau of Industry and Security on Tuesday announced a year-long ban on exporting “black mass” — created by shredding batteries — and scrap tungsten, which is used in defence supply chains."}],[{"start":30.48,"text":"China dominates the production of a wide array of metals that are key to industries, ranging from defence to technology to energy. It has weaponised that control by restricting access to the materials in a tit-for-tat trade war with the US, highlighting the risks for the west of relying on a single supplier."}],[{"start":48.36,"text":"In response, other nations led by the US are racing to develop new supplies and recycle more domestically."}],[{"start":55.52,"text":"President Donald Trump ordered the commerce department to draw up the export restrictions last week, saying the “inadequate supply” of certain metals “poses an increasing risk to our national defense and security”."}],[{"start":66.6,"text":"Under the new rules, US sellers of black mass and tungsten waste and scrap must sell the materials only to US buyers, “unless an adjustment or exception is obtained”. The restrictions, which price reporting agency Argus said are the first such measures in recent US history, come into force later this month."}],[{"start":null,"text":"
"}],[{"start":85.76,"text":"Tungsten, which is used in munitions, has been in increasingly short supply due to global rearmament efforts, the wars in Iran and Ukraine and the Chinese export restrictions. Its price has skyrocketed this year."}],[{"start":98.729,"text":"The US has no active tungsten mines but does have some scrap-processing capacity, though some experts say these are not enough to turn all its scrap back into finished products."}],[{"start":109.295,"text":"Some US companies had been pushing the White House to ban tungsten scrap exports over fears that Chinese buyers in America were paying over the odds to secure supplies that were then sent back to China."}],[{"start":120.02,"text":"There has been an increase this year in US exports of tungsten scrap to the recycling hubs of the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam and South Korea, according to data from research group Project Blue."}],[{"start":131.76,"text":"Black mass typically contains battery metals including lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese and graphite. However, the US has limited domestic processing capabilities for the substance, much of which is recycled into usable material in Asia."}],[{"start":145.56,"text":"The EU is also introducing black mass export restrictions and will ban exports to non-OECD countries from November."}],[{"start":157.74,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1785978240_2260.mp3"}