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STORY: U.S.-China trade tensions look to be escalating.

First came news that Beijing was set to restrict exports of key metals used in chipmaking.

Officials said that would cover some shipments of gallium and germanium products.

Analysts said Monday’s (July 3) move was a response to U.S. efforts to restrict Chinese access to some chips and related technologies.

The news sent industry players scrambling to secure supplies of the critical metals.

Then on Tuesday (July 4) came news of Washington’s possible next steps.

The Wall Street Journal says the Biden administration is preparing to restrict Chinese access to U.S. cloud-computing services.

If confirmed, that would likely require firms like Amazon and Microsoft to get permission before supplying some services to Chinese customers.

The report says the move will come within weeks.

Now the question is what might come next.

Some in the tech industry fear China could respond with restrictions on the supply of rare earths.

Those are specialized metals used in key tech like electric cars and military equipment.

China is by far the biggest producer, giving it major power over supplies.