The impact of the U.S. tariffs on the entire tungsten industry

       Chinese tungsten products exported to the United States can be seen in the impact of tungsten iron and tungsten wire, of course, the indirect impact of cutting tools, vehicles and parts, aerospace and other machining equipment, these are the main downstream industries of cemented carbide.

In 2018, China exported 314 tons of tungsten oxide, 1044 tons of ammonium metawungstate, 606 tons of tungsten carbide, 891 tons of tungsten powder and 320 tons of unwrought tungsten bars to the United States.

Last year, China exported 2,600 tons of tungsten and iron, of which 210 tons were exported to the United States, accounting for 8.1 percent. Last year, China exported 291 tons of tungsten wire, of which 5.56 tons were exported to the United States, accounting for 1.9%. From this point of view, the share of tungsten iron and tungsten wire exports to the United States is not large, in addition, in the aspect of tungsten iron exports, Vietnam's labor, land and other costs than China is lower, Vietnam in recent years is China's tungsten iron in the world's largest competitors.

The effect of reciprocal tariffs

Although from the above data analysis, China and the United States tariffs have little direct impact on tungsten raw materials.

First, the share of tungsten exports to the United States is small.

Secondly, the tungsten, iron and tungsten wire in the tariff are exported to the United States very little, and the mixture accounting for the largest proportion can be transferred to Hong Kong or Europe for trade (without going to the country of origin).

Third, the indirect impact cannot be ignored. The impact of alloy and machining will affect the export of these pieces to the United States, and the indirect impact will reduce the purchase of tungsten raw materials.

The development of China's cemented carbide mainly meets its own needs. About 80% of domestic alloy output is used for domestic consumption, and the main export alloy is from middle and high-end to developing countries or the European Union, of which Germany is the main exporter.