The United States has finally decided to ban imports of tantalum, a rare metal produced by North Korea, China, Russia and Iran.
The U.S. Department of Defense has confirmed a ban on the acquisition of tantalum metals and alloys from these four countries and will publish this fact in the Federal Register on the 25th.
According to the Defense Authorization Act, the Ministry of National Defense has been implementing provisional regulations to ban the import of tantalum from these four countries since October 2020, and this policy has been finalized.
The Department of Defense said reducing tantalum dependence in these four countries is a national security issue. Tantalum is an important part of the supply chain for the production of military and non-military systems used by the Department of Defense.
Tantalum, a rare metal, is used in applications that have to withstand extreme heat, such as aircraft and jet engine parts.
(Photo = Yonhap News)