Abstract: Tungsten is one kind of critical metal minerals with high strategic position. The sustainable supply of critical minerals is the material basis and premise for the safe operation of the industry chain. The industry chain is a complex system of intertwined and synergistic effects between horizontal trade relations and vertical production relations. It is of great significance to study the evolution of the trade structure of the tungsten industry chain and the heterogeneity of the country’s position in different links and the whole chain of the tungsten industry chain for a profound understanding of the global supply and demand structure of tungsten resources. This paper selects the trade data of representative products in each link of the global tungsten industry chain from 2013 to 2024, constructs a multi-layer network of global tungsten industry chain trade, and systematically combs the trade evolution characteristics and heterogeneity of the global tungsten industry chain from the perspective of horizontal trade association and vertical production association. From the perspective of horizontal trade, the research results show that: in the overall network, the upstream tungsten mine trade network is relatively sparse, showing a “core-edge” structure. The trade relationship between the downstream tungsten products and the midstream tungsten processed products is closer, the degree of network agglomeration is significantly higher, and the efficiency of information and material flow is faster; from the node level, the trade networks at all levels follow the power law distribution, and a few core countries dominate most trade links. From the perspective of vertical production, the results show that the tungsten industry chain trade network shows the characteristics of “weak overall coupling and close ties between local countries”, and there is significant structural heterogeneity between the trade networks at all levels; from the perspective of cross level interaction, the trade links in different links of the industry chain have strong characteristics of division of labor and structural differentiation, and the cross level coupling is weak as a whole; from the national level, some countries maintain relatively stable trade participation in many links, and have a high degree of participation in the upstream, midstream and downstream trade networks. This study provides a reference support for a comprehensive and systematic understanding of the evolution characteristics, heterogeneity and sustainable development of the critical mineral industry chain.