U.S. needs more tungsten. China is a major supplier of the critical metal

BEIJING — China dominates the supply chain for many of the world’s critical minerals, but so far it’s held off on sweeping restrictions on at least one: tungsten.

The metal is nearly as hard as diamond and has a high energy density. That’s made tungsten an important material in weapons, autos, electric car batteries, semiconductors and industrial cutting machines. Chipmakers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Nvidia both use the metal.

“I don’t expect any saber-rattling over tungsten,” said Lewis Black, CEO of Canada-based Almonty Industries. The company said it’s spending at least $125 million to reopen a tungsten mine in South Korea later this year.

“If you get too belligerent about diversification, [it becomes a situation that’s] biting the hand that feeds you,” he said, adding that “tungsten has always been a diplomatic metal.”

While the Biden administration raised tariffs on imports of tungsten in May, China this past weekend did not include the metal in new regulations for boosting its oversight of domestic rare earths production.

“The tariffs were more of a warning shot, as Biden only put tariffs on three of the 25 strategic metals China exports,” Black said.

“But China might not be too concerned, because the Chinese government ignored the new tariffs, unlike in the past when they restricted some exports of rare earths. They completely ignored it because the Chinese don’t want tensions to rise.”

Asked last month if China would retaliate to the latest U.S. tariffs on tungsten, China’s Ministry of Commerce spokesperson He Yadong didn’t announce countermeasures. Instead, he called on the U.S. to remove the additional duties.

Commodity price reporting and analytics company Fastmarkets pointed out earlier this year that China has reduced national production quotas for its tungsten mines due to environmental restrictions.

Still, Black expects his company to benefit from growing efforts to diversify away from China. Almonty claims the forthcoming mine in South Korea has the potential to produce 50% of the world’s ex-China tungsten supply.

Demand for non-Chinese tungsten is already on the rise.

“We see in the U.S., in Europe, they ask their suppliers for a China-free supply chain,” said Michael Dornhofer, founder of metals consulting firm Independent Supply Business Partner.

The U.S. REEShore Act — or Restoring Essential Energy and Security Holdings Onshore for Rare Earths Act of 2022 — prohibits the use of Chinese tungsten in military equipment starting in 2026, while the European Commission last year extended tariffs on imported Chinese tungsten carbide…