China Suspends Shipping Probe, Pauses Critical Mineral Curbs in Trade Truce With U.S. — Update

Beijing has suspended sanctions imposed on South Korean shipbuilders related to a U.S. probe and paused some export controls on critical minerals, following a trade detente agreed with Washington last month.

Shortly after Washington suspended a probe into the Chinese shipping sector, China's commerce ministry said Monday that it would halt sanctions on five subsidiaries of shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean over their alleged role in a U.S. investigation, for a period of one year.

Meanwhile, the Chinese transport ministry on Monday reciprocally paused its own investigation, as well as special port fees levied on U.S. vessels.

Separately, China's commerce ministry on Sunday temporarily lifted a ban on approving exports of "dual-use items" related to gallium, germanium, antimony and super-hard materials to the U.S. It also suspended stricter reviews of the export of graphite to the U.S. The suspensions took effect from Sunday and will be effective till Nov. 27 next year, the ministry said in a statement.

The bans were announced last December in response to technology restrictions imposed by the Biden administration that targeted China's access to advanced memory chips critical to artificial-intelligence applications.

Gallium is key to semiconductor and electronics manufacturing, while germanium is used in critical defense and space applications, and antimony is used in rechargeable batteries commonly found in car engines. China was one of the country's main sources for those minerals before the December ban.

Separately on Friday, China's commerce ministry paused expanded Chinese export controls on rare earths that were announced in early October, for a period of one year.

The commerce ministry last month had said foreign suppliers must obtain approval from Beijing to export some products with certain rare-earth materials originating from China if they account for 0.1% or more of the good's total value.

In a fact sheet published after President Trump's meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in October, the White House said China would issue general licenses valid for exports of rare earths, gallium, germanium, antimony and graphite for the benefit of U.S. end users and their suppliers around the world. "The general license means the de facto removal of controls China imposed since 2023," the White House said.

Write to Singapore Editors at singaporeeditors@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 10, 2025 01:40 ET (06:40 GMT)