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Mid-Nickel",103.5,99.73,3.78,13.78,6.78,[518,519,520,522,524,526,528,530,532,534,536,538],{"date":213,"value":512},{"date":216,"value":513},{"date":219,"value":521},99.19,{"date":222,"value":523},96.02,{"date":225,"value":525},98.23,{"date":467,"value":527},99.24,{"date":329,"value":529},101.29,{"date":339,"value":531},87.61,{"date":341,"value":533},92.44,{"date":344,"value":535},90.96,{"date":347,"value":537},92.24,{"date":350,"value":539},95.09,{"id":541,"uuid":542,"name":543,"slug":544,"full_slug":545,"content":546,"relatedArticles":736,"relatedVideos":737},208636516669517,"2e9d5b39-2829-4eb0-a0bf-4c3d76d93296","Geo-economic and policy briefing - edition 7","geo-economic-and-policy-briefing-edition-7","publications/briefings/geo-economic-and-policy-briefings/geo-economic-and-policy-briefing-edition-7",{"_uid":547,"date":548,"content":549,"excerpt":686,"component":687,"categories":688,"visibility":733,"publication_frequency":188,"formattedDate":734,"formattedArticleDate":735},"a626a35d-cb80-4cd9-923a-71d39928850b","2026-08-13 00:00",{"type":550,"attrs":551,"content":552},"doc",{"backgroundColor":49},[553,572,579,584,594,609,614,619,624,644,650,664,671,676,681],{"type":554,"attrs":555,"content":557},"heading",{"level":556,"textAlign":49},4,[558,568],{"text":559,"type":560,"marks":561},"1. ","text",[562,566],{"type":563,"attrs":564},"textStyle",{"color":565},"",{"type":567},"bold",{"text":569,"type":560,"marks":570},"US-China tensions put drone and robotics supply chains under pressure",[571],{"type":567},{"type":573,"attrs":574,"content":576},"paragraph",{"textAlign":575},"justify",[577],{"text":578,"type":560},"US-China relations have recently been marked by a series of trade and economic tit-for-tat tensions affecting drones, robots, and power inverters. The tensions are increasing pressure on defence industrial readiness and the US data-centre and AI buildout, six weeks before President Xi Jinping’s scheduled visit to the US on 24 September 2026.",{"type":573,"attrs":580,"content":581},{"textAlign":575},[582],{"text":583,"type":560},"The latest escalation came on 5 August, when China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced four separate countermeasures. These included tighter dual-use export controls on drones, key components, and related technology destined for the US, with applications moving from routine clearance to case-by-case review. MOFCOM also sanctioned six US organisations for what it described as \"egregious\" assistance with US sanctions relating to Xinjiang (see more below)",{"type":585,"attrs":586},"blok",{"id":587,"body":588},"841ee796-7ecb-4342-9681-b18d06e5a90a",[589],{"id":590,"_uid":591,"type":592,"component":593,"fixed_height":565,"use_fixed_height":50,"fixed_height_mobile":565,"fixed_height_tablet":565},"29939503","i-24177a12-e071-4955-b457-58785842823c","visualisation","ContentFlourish",{"type":573,"attrs":595,"content":596},{"textAlign":575},[597,599,607],{"text":598,"type":560},"According to ",{"text":600,"type":560,"marks":601},"Benchmark’s Non-road Mobile Machinery report",[602],{"type":603,"attrs":604},"link",{"href":605,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":606},"https://intelligence.benchmarkminerals.com/article/battery-demand-from-defence-applications-launched-in-benchmark-s-non-road-mobile-machinery-report","url",{"text":608,"type":560},", global battery demand from defence applications reached 4.3GWh in 2025. Drones were the largest single source of demand, accounting for approximately 1.7GWh, or just under 40% of the total, compared with around 15% in 2020. Demand has increased sharply since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. China has the world’s largest and most vertically integrated drone industry, combining substantial manufacturing capacity with a deep battery and magnet component supply chain and the largest deployed fleet. Its position has also been reinforced by national policy support under China’s 15th Five-Year Plan.",{"type":573,"attrs":610,"content":611},{"textAlign":575},[612],{"text":613,"type":560},"China has introduced repeated export controls and sanctions on drones and drone components usable for military purposes since 2023, disrupting supplies to Ukraine and the US. In October 2024, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs sanctioned three US defence suppliers, including drone manufacturer Skydio, in retaliation for US military assistance to Taiwan. The measure cut off Skydio’s battery supplier and forced the company to ration customers to one battery per drone. China’s export controls, announced in October 2025 and potentially taking effect on 10 November without an agreement with the US, do not target conventional first-person-view (FPV) drone batteries. Instead, they target next-generation cells, including silicon-anode and lithium-metal cells exceeding the 300Wh/kg threshold, which are intended to power longer-range and higher-altitude drones.",{"type":573,"attrs":615,"content":616},{"textAlign":575},[617],{"text":618,"type":560},"China’s latest economic security measures followed earlier US actions adding 43 Chinese companies to its forced-labour entity list, the largest single expansion to date, taking the total to 187. The additions included SDIC Xinjiang Lithium, a lithium carbonate producer, and Xinjiang Tianhongji, an active anode material company. The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has also proposed banning the continued import and marketing of previously authorised Chinese-origin drones, components, and surveillance cameras. It added new Chinese humanoid and quadruped robots, along with power inverters connecting batteries and renewable generation to the grid and data centres, to its Covered List of restricted equipment. The FCC framed the move as a measure to protect the US artificial intelligence buildout from potential supply chain disruption. However, the restrictions apply strictly to prospective authorisations for new device models; existing inverter models already approved through the FCC process remain unaffected and eligible for continued import, sale, and installation. Because the vast majority of near-term utility and commercial projects rely on hardware models that hold pre-existing FCC equipment authorisations, most active builds will experience little immediate operational disruption.",{"type":573,"attrs":620,"content":621},{"textAlign":575},[622],{"text":623,"type":560},"Power inverters connect battery storage and on-site renewable generation to a data centre’s backup and grid-connected power systems. Chinese suppliers accounted for approximately 83% of the global battery energy storage system (BESS) integrator market in 2025. China also holds the largest global share of humanoid robot installations and shipments. Humanoid robots currently account for negligible battery demand, but are forecast to represent 4% of global battery demand by 2050. The FCC action followed an escalation in June, when China added 10 US companies, including Teal Drones, MP Materials, and USA Rare Earth, to its own export-control list in response to the Pentagon’s expansion of its blacklist of Chinese companies linked to the military.",{"type":554,"attrs":625,"content":626},{"level":556,"textAlign":575},[627,633,637],{"text":628,"type":560,"marks":629},"2.  ",[630,632],{"type":563,"attrs":631},{"color":565},{"type":567},{"text":634,"type":560,"marks":635},"Monthly round-up of ",[636],{"type":567},{"text":638,"type":560,"marks":639},"the remaining key geopolitical and policy updates",[640,643],{"type":563,"attrs":641},{"color":642},"black",{"type":567},{"type":585,"attrs":645},{"id":587,"body":646},[647],{"id":648,"_uid":649,"type":592,"component":593,"fixed_height":565,"use_fixed_height":50,"fixed_height_mobile":565,"fixed_height_tablet":565},"29939442","i-31f354a7-eb4a-4d1f-9691-180ab4faf67d",{"type":554,"attrs":651,"content":652},{"level":556,"textAlign":575},[653,658],{"text":654,"type":560,"marks":655},"3.  ",[656],{"type":563,"attrs":657},{"color":642},{"text":659,"type":560,"marks":660},"Key macroeconomic Indicators",[661,663],{"type":563,"attrs":662},{"color":642},{"type":567},{"type":585,"attrs":665},{"id":587,"body":666},[667],{"id":668,"_uid":669,"type":670,"component":593,"fixed_height":565,"use_fixed_height":50,"fixed_height_mobile":565,"fixed_height_tablet":565},"3749572","i-5f84b8ba-301e-4818-9087-b47862211085","story",{"type":573,"attrs":672,"content":673},{"textAlign":49},[674],{"text":675,"type":560},"US inflation dropped in the year to July, contracting to 3.4% from the 3.5% figure posted in June. Meanwhile, the price of gasoline was 2.9% lower than in June despite ongoing conflict in the Middle East, and US economic growth was lower than expected in Q2 at 1.5%, down from 2.1% in Q1. There was also a loss of 23,000 jobs in July.",{"type":573,"attrs":677,"content":678},{"textAlign":49},[679],{"text":680,"type":560},"China’s car exports jumped in July, up 88% compared to July 2025, though this contrasted with a 21% drop in domestic sales. More broadly, the economy underperformed the government’s already-reduced 4.5–5% growth target in Q2, statistics revealed in July, with a growth rate of 4.3%.",{"type":573,"attrs":682,"content":683},{"textAlign":49},[684],{"text":685,"type":560},"In Europe, new GDP figures for 2025 put Poland ahead of Belgium and Sweden as Europe’s sixth-largest economy for the first time. A report from Dutch bank Triodos, meanwhile, suggested that the extreme heat events taking place across Europe during the summer could cost the EU 1% of its GDP, largely through reduced labour productivity.","This is your monthly geo-economic and policy briefing, part of your Benchmark Intelligence subscription. Every month, this briefing examines the key geo-economic and policy trends shaping the mine-to-grid supply chains, from critical minerals to electric vehicles (EVs). 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