12 khoáng chất hàng hóatừ nhiều nguồn trên toàn thế giới, vì vậy nó có thể là không thể để theo dõi các nước xuất xứ. Tuy nhiên, khai thác nguyên liệu là chỉ có hộp đen đầu tiên của chuỗi cung cấp chất bán dẫn. Hầu hết các máy tính được sản xuất trong một khu vực nhỏ bên ngoài của | used to extract Part of the trade in Cobalt and Tantalum a metal used in circuitry funds armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo where at least million people have been killed since Collective ignorance of supply chains also poses security problems this year the US Government Accounting Office reported that most rare earth minerals -metals essential to microchip manufacturing- are only sourced in China giving that country control over the production of among other things US military Commodity minerals are mixed from many sources worldwide so it can be impossible to trace them to the country of origin. But raw material extraction is only the first black box of the semiconductor supply chain. Most computers are manufactured in a small area outside of Shanghai where manufacturers fill orders for major computer brands. These global companies communicate directly with their direct first-tier suppliers but many parts originate with third- and fourth-tier suppliers that have no direct Manufacturers and suppliers often have only handshake agreements most communication is face-to-face. So while buyers control the suppliers of screens and hard drives they may have little information about the source of subassemblies like keyboards and power supplies. Numerous labor issues have been reported in the factories of first- second- and third-tier suppliers to major computer brands. In 2006 Hong Kong-based Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior uncovered widespread child labor excessive overtime pay below minimum wage and numerous occupational hazards at several factories supplying Dell Acer and This year Apple 10 Steven B. Young Goretty Dias Alberto Fonseca Meghan Spilka O Keefe . Social and Environmental Responsibility in Metals Supply to the Electronic Industry. Global e-Sustainability Initiative Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition 2008. Available at http files
