Back and Forth: President Trump has announced a 90-day pause on new tariffs against all countries except China, just a week after what experts called a "nuclear bomb" on global trade. Global reciprocal tariffs have been reduced to 10%, while anti-China taxes have surged to a historic 125%.
With supply so limited, prices have nearly doubled in the last year
Why it matters: Exports of crucial semiconductor materials germanium and gallium have been caught up in a game of cat and mouse between the US and China, with Beijing's primary motivation to show that it is able to retaliate against US-led pressures on Chinese companies. China has not been shy about imposing these controls, announcing export restrictions this month on antimony, a mineral used in armor-piercing ammunition, night-vision goggles, and precision optics. Last year, China also introduced controls on exports of graphite and technologies used in rare earth extraction and separation.