(Updates story to reflect China's latest move to ban some

mineral exports)

By Eduardo Baptista

BEIJING, Dec 3 (Reuters) - China has banned exports to

the U.S. of some goods containing critical minerals while

tightening exports on others, after U.S. curbs a day earlier on

the Chinese chip industry.

Following is background on export controls and other steps

that analysts say Chinese authorities might take to safeguard

China and its companies' interests.

DUAL-USE

On Dec. 3 China banned exports to the U.S. of items related

to gallium, germanium, antimony and superhard materials, the

latest escalation of trade tensions between the countries ahead

of President-elect Donald Trump taking office.

China had already on Dec. 1 enforced new regulations on

exports of so-called dual-use products that have both civilian

and military applications.

That had seen it create a unified and simplified export

control list while also requiring Chinese exporters of dual-use

items to disclose details about end users.

The move allows Beijing to better identify supply chain

dependencies on China within the U.S. military-industrial

complex. Critical minerals are among these items, as China

dominates global mining and processing of rare earth materials.

It already this year imposed export limits on antimony, a

strategic metal used in military applications such as ammunition

and infrared missiles, and in October 2023 put curbs on graphite

products that go into electric vehicle batteries.

In July 2023, China announced restrictions on the export of

eight gallium and six germanium products, metals widely used in

chipmaking, citing national security interests.

In December 2023, China banned the export of technology to

make rare earth magnets, which came on top of a ban already in

place on exporting technology to extract and separate the

critical materials.

SECURITY REVIEWS

Beijing's announcement in May last year that it would block

some government purchases from Micron after the U.S. memory chip

maker failed a security review is widely regarded as one of

China's first retaliatory moves in the U.S.-China chip war.

Concern has grown that U.S. tech giant Intel ( INTC ) could

be a future target, after the Cybersecurity Association of China

alleged the American firm had "constantly harmed" the country's

national security and interests and that its products sold in

China should be subject to a security review.

Intel ( INTC ) is one of the largest providers of chips used in

electronic devices including personal computers, and traditional

servers in data centres in China. It received over a quarter of

its total revenues from China last year.

Retaliatory action could also happen via other channels.

U.S. business chambers in China have in past years complained of

U.S. firms facing increased issues such as slower customs

clearance and more government inspections during times of

escalated tensions such as the U.S.-China trade war.

UNRELIABLE ENTITIES LIST AND ANTI-FOREIGN SANCTIONS LAW

China in September announced that it would probe U.S. firm

PVH Corp ( PVH ), which owns fashion brands Tommy Hilfiger and

Calvin Klein, for "unjustly boycotting" Xinjiang cotton and

other products under the unreliable entity list (UEL) framework.

That was the first time Beijing had taken action against a

company for removing Xinjiang cotton from its supply chain to

comply with U.S. rules, and one of the few times it had used the

UEL since the list's creation.

Beijing created the list during the first Trump presidency

and threatened to ban U.S. companies from importing, exporting

and investing in China.

To date the list has included U.S. companies involved in the

sale of arms to Taiwan such as Lockheed Martin ( LMT ) and RTX's

Raytheon Missiles & Defense.

China also has an anti-foreign sanctions law in effect since

June 2021, which it uses to target foreign companies that it

deems to have harmed the country's national security or caused

Chinese firms to be sanctioned.

When U.S. drone manufacturer Skydio was sanctioned under the

law in October, that quickly cut off the company's supply of

batteries, according to the Financial Times.

"As containment (of China) intensifies, more U.S.

industries, businesses and the entire economy will pay an

increasingly heavy price," state-owned outlet Global Times wrote

in an opinion article about Skydio in November.