China says it told the U.S. and Europe about the export controls in advance

BEIJING — China's Ministry of Commerce said Thursday the state told the U.S. and Europe astir this week's export controls successful advance.

China did truthful done "export power dialog channels," commerce ministry spokesperson Shu Jueting said successful Mandarin, translated by CNBC.

China does not people immoderate circumstantial state with the restrictions, she said, reiterating their extremity is to support nationalist security.

The commerce ministry announced Monday that starting Aug. 1 China would restrict exports of gallium and germanium — 2 metals utilized successful semiconductor manufacturing. That means companies successful China request to use for licenses successful bid to export the metals. China produces astir of the world's gallium and germanium, which are not recovered people but produced by refining different metals.

Spokesperson Shu said the ministry had yet to person immoderate applications for export licenses, and noted the rules don't instrumentality effect until Aug. 1.

She told reporters much than erstwhile that the export restrictions aren't a implicit prohibition connected exports, and that applications that conscionable the requirements volition get approved. Shu did not stock specifics.

An EU Commission spokesperson said successful a connection to CNBC that China told the Commission connected Monday astir the forthcoming export controls.

"The Commission is acrophobic that these exports restrictions are unrelated to the request to support planetary bid and stableness oregon the implementation of China's non-proliferation obligations arising from planetary treaties," the spokesperson said, noting the Commission is moving connected an investigation of the restrictions' imaginable interaction connected planetary proviso chains.

When asked for comment, the U.S. Treasury Department referred CNBC to the U.S. Commerce Department. Commerce and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative did not instantly respond to a CNBC petition for comment.

“Beijing's caller licensing authorities is simply a informing changeable aimed squarely astatine the US, Japan, and the Netherlands pursuing a trilateral agreement earlier this year to coordinate spot export controls," Gabriel Wildau, managing manager astatine consulting steadfast Teneo, said successful a enactment Wednesday.

"Japan, Germany, and the Netherlands are the world's apical importers of Chinese gallium by volume, portion Japan, France, Germany, and the US pb successful germanium imports."

News of the export curbs came conscionable days earlier U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was acceptable to statesman her China visit connected Thursday.

China's Ministry of Commerce separately announced that connected Wednesday its minister Wang Wentao met that time with 12 overseas pharmaceutical companies, including GE HealthCare and Pfizer. Wang said the ministry would found regular roundtables with overseas businesses to respond to their concerns, the readout said.

GE HealthCare and Pfizer did not instantly respond to a CNBC petition for comment.

— CNBC's Clement Tan and Arjun Kharpal contributed to this report.