BEIJING – China will step up efforts to silver Starting Thursday, export restrictions extend restrictions on a once-common metal critical to U.S. industry and defense supply chains.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk criticized the move on his social media platform X over the weekend, responding to posts about the impending restrictions.

“This is not good. Need money in many industrial processes,” Musk wrote.

But these rules are not new. China’s Ministry of Commerce No. 1 New measures announced Strengthening supervision in October rare metalsIt comes on the same day that U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in South Korea. At that time, Beijing agreed Certain rare earth export controls suspended for one yearwhile the United States eliminated tariffs.

Earlier this month, China announced a list of 44 companies Permitted to export silver According to new measures in 2026 and 2027. New rules for 2026 also limit tungsten and antimonymaterials dominated by Chinese supply chains and widely used in national defense and advanced technology fields.

Although China has not explicitly announced a total ban on silver exports, the state-run Securities Times reported on Tuesday that Quoting an industry insider who asked not to be namedHe said the new policy officially elevated metals from ordinary commodities to strategic materials, placing their export controls on the same regulatory basis as rare earths.

A snap survey of members by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China in November found that the majority of respondents had been or expected to be affected by China’s export controls.

USA add silver In November, the mineral was added to the state’s list of designated critical minerals, citing its use in circuits, batteries, solar cells and antimicrobial medical devices. Another analysis from the United States said that China One of the world’s largest producers By 2024, silver reserves will be at their maximum and one of the largest.

Citing official data, Wind Information said China exported more than 4,600 tons of silver in the first 11 months of this year, far exceeding the approximately 220 tons it imported during the same period.

The restrictions on silver come as interest in the metal has increased in recent weeks.

Two Chinese companies contacted Canada’s Kuya Silver on Friday, offering to buy Physical silver prices are about $8 higher CEO David Stein confirmed to CNBC that the price was lower than the market price at the time. One company is a manufacturer and the other is a large trading company, he said.

He added that an Indian buyer made an offer to Kuya on Monday that was $10 above the market price.

The conservative digital media Free Press published an op-ed on Tuesday by Tyler Cowen, an economics professor at George Mason University, who said that the surge in silver prices and gold Prices reflect investors abandoning the dollar.

He called the price surge “ flash warning For the (U.S.) economy. “

this dollar index It fell nearly 9.5% in 2025, the worst performance since 2017.

By comparison, silver prices have more than doubled and are on track to post their best year since 1979, when prices soared nearly 470%. Silver prices retreated on Wednesday after hitting record highs above $80 an ounce earlier in the week, with spot prices last trading around $73.

Gold prices have risen more than 60% so far this year and are on track for their best year since 1979.

BitcoinGold, sometimes promoted as an alternative to gold as a store of value, was trading near $88,000 on Wednesday morning Beijing time, down more than 5% for the year.

—CNBC’s Chris Hayes contributed to this report.