China accounted for 48% of globally mined antimony last year. The country's overall shipments of the material in October dropped by 97% from September following the introduction of the export controls.
China's move comes a day after the Biden administration announced a new set of sanctions designed to restrict China's access to critical Western technologies that could have AI and military applications. At least 140 Chinese organizations were added to the Entity List, joining the likes of Huawei, meaning US companies must apply for and acquire a license, which is rarely granted, if they wish to do business with them.