China has secured a virtual monopoly over gallium, a critical mineral used to produce microchips in advanced military technologies. Failing to de-risk gallium supply chains could have serious security and economic consequences for the United States and its allies.
Plays stupid games, win stupid prizes as the saying goes.
It means that producing gallium is going to require a significant amount of time. You can’t just magically will mines, refineries, and supply chains into existence. This is going to take years to do. Meanwhile, since China has fully domestic supply chains right now, it’s going to be Chinese companies dominating the global market while these alternative supply chains are built out for western companies.
It means that producing gallium is going to require a significant amount of time. You can’t just magically will mines, refineries, and supply chains into existence. This is going to take years to do. Meanwhile, since China has fully domestic supply chains right now, it’s going to be Chinese companies dominating the global market while these alternative supply chains are built out for western companies.