China said it would restrict exports to foreign defense companies and semiconductor users and add five rare earth elements to its list, tightening its export limits on rare earths on Thursday.
The largest rare earth producer in the world also issued regulations that will force international rare earth manufacturers that utilize Chinese materials to comply, and it added dozens of pieces of refining equipment to its control list.
The comments from the Ministry of Commerce come after U.S. legislators called for more extensive prohibitions on the transfer of chipmaking equipment to China on Tuesday.
They increase the number of controls. Beijing made the announcement in April, which led to global shortages, but the supply constraint was alleviated by a number of agreements with the US and Europe.
