Proposed US tariffs threaten niche trade in metals

The US’ proposed tariffs on another $200 billion of Chinese goods threaten a niche trade in minor metals and rare earths used in everything from stomach remedies and jet engines to consumer electronics.

More than 6,000 items have been earmarked for a 10 percent import tariff, including someminerals the US in May designated as “critical” to its economic and national security.

These minerals and products based on them accounted for more than $1 billion of US imports from China in 2017, and traders warn US consumers will end up paying a premium if tariffs are put in place.

Below is a list of mineral products in the tariff list where the US relies heavily on China.

First, bismuth. No primary refined production of bismuth has taken place in the US since 1997. Applications for this white metal with a pinkish hue range from stomach remedies to sprinkler systems, and China accounted for 77 percent of US bismuth imports from 2013 to 2016, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

Second, barite and antimony. Used as a weighting agent in oil and gas drilling, barite is another mineral the US mainly sources from China, which accounts for 69 percent of its imports. The value of these stood at $93.6 million last year, when US domestic barite mine production fell.

While for antimony, a shiny semi-metal used in fire retardants, together with its powder form antimony oxide, imports accounted for $108.5 million of imports from China last year. China provided 62 percent of antimony metal and 70 percent of antimony oxide imports from 2013 to 2016, according to the USGS.

The US also largely depends on China’s imports of natural graphite, tungsten and titanium.

Long used in steelmaking and more recently as anode material for lithium-ion batteries, natural graphite was not produced in the US last year. China is the top supplier, accounting for 35 percent of imports over 2013 to 2016, with a value of around $27 million in 2017, although Mexico and Canada are alternative sources.

Used to harden steel, Chinese tungsten items had an import value of about $145 million last year. China, the world’s top producer of the metal, accounts for 34 percent of US imports.

Titanium and titanium oxides, serving as an element used in aerospace, had an import value of $84.9 million in 2017, while there was an additional $89.1 million of titanium dioxide pigment imports. China is a distant second to Japan with an 8 percent share of titanium sponge metal imports, but it accounted for 24 percent of imports of titanium dioxide, used as a pigment in paints.

Meantime, imports of tantalum items were worth $72.7 million last year. Used in capacitors for consumer electronics and in super-alloy castings for jet engines, China accounts for 23 percent of the product’s various import sources.