Materials targeted by EU and US in China WTO case

Reuters quoted EU and industry sources said European Union and the United States plan to take action against China at the World Trade Organization over export restrictions on around 20 industrial raw materials.

The EU and United States say China has continued to restrict exports of raw materials used in steel, semiconductors, aircraft and other products despite Beijing's pledge to eliminate taxes and charges on exports when it joined the WTO in 2001.

Included in the materials expected to be covered by the case is a range of strategic minor metals, used in applications such as alloys, ceramics, mobile phones and light bulbs.

Some of these metals come from a limited range of sources and their supply can be vulnerable to interruption.

Here are the key uses of some of the listed materials:

1. Antimony

Used in making paints, ceramics and enamels, and also to fireproof fibers and plastics. China produces about 90 percent of the world's antimony.

2. Bauxite

The most important aluminium ore, used for refining into alumina the raw material used to make aluminium.

3. Fluuorspar

A mineral composed of calcium fluoride, or fluorite. Used to manufacture products such as aluminium, gasoline, insulating foams, refrigerants, steel and uranium fuel.

4. Indium

Used in making flat-panel LCD screens also in alloys to make transistors, rectifiers thermistors and photoconductors.

It can be plated onto metal and evaporated onto glass, forming a mirror as good as those made with silver. As an alloy, it can also be used in solders.

5. Magnesium carbonate

A light white powdery compound used in a wide variety of manufactured products including inks, glass, cosmetics, toothpaste, rubber, plastics.

6. Molybdenum

Used as a strengthening and anti-corrosion agent in steel. As a pure metal, molybdenum is used because of its high melting temperatures as filament supports in light bulbs, metal-working dies and furnace parts.

7. Rare Earths

A group of 17 elements in the periodic table, isolated from uncommon minerals which tend to be difficult to mine making the rare earth elements relatively expensive. They include europium, ytterbium, lanthanum, samarium and erbium.

8. Silocon

Used in transistors, solar cells, rectifiers and other electronic devices like computer chips. It is also used to make concrete and bricks; in medicine for silicone implants. Silica, as sand, is a main component of glass.

9. Talc

Hydrated magnesium silicate an industrial mineral resistant to heat and electricity. Used in paint rubber and insecticides.

10. Tin

One of the oldest metals known to man, tin has many uses, particularly electro-plating around objects of steel, copper and aluminium. Tin alloys are also important, such as soft solder, pewter, bronze and phosphor bronze. Tin salts sprayed onto glass are used to produce electrically conductive coatings.

11. Tungsten

A wide range of uses. Tungsten and its alloys are used extensively for filaments for electric lamps, electron and television tubes, as electrical contacts for car distributors.

It is also used in heating elements for electrical furnaces, missile and other high-temperature applications. Many high-speed tool steels and many other alloys contain tungsten.

Tungsten carbide is important to the metal-working, mining, and petroleum industries; calcium and magnesium tungstates are widely used in fluorescent lighting.

12. Yellow Phosphorus

Used widely in many products including fire extinguishers, explosives, nerve agents, pesticides, detergents, animal foods and baking powder.

13. Zinc

Zinc is mainly used a protective coating for iron and steel since it has a relatively slow and predictable rate of atmospheric corrosion of zinc compared with steel.

This makes it especially useful as a protection against corrosion in steam boilers and on the hulls of steel ships. It is also alloyed with copper to make brass.

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