Forged 30 "end-use commitment letters", and 37% of the rare earth imported from India is unaccounted for.
According to relevant media reports, India is suffering from a shortage of rare earth magnets, and its automotive market is facing a production halt crisis. As China tightens its regulation on rare earth exports, it has been found that not only South Korea but also India violated the regulations on rare earth export control.
It was reported that Dongguan Customs adopted new technologies to track the flow of rare earth and discovered a 137% increase in South Korean rare earth, while chip capacity only increased by 5%. The additional 82% of rare earth flowed into military industries of the US. Unlike South Korea's blatant re-export of rare earth, India forged 30 "end-use commitment letters" and imported a large amount of rare earth. However, after customs selected advanced technology tracking, 37% of them could not verify their final use.
It was reported that in 2024, India imported approximately 1,362 tons of rare earth from China, accounting for nearly 60% of the total. Part of this rare earth was even exported to Japan. Not only does India import rare earth from China, but it also imports rare earth permanent magnets and magnet alloys. In 2024, India imported nearly 2,850 tons from China. It should be noted that the quantity of rare earth magnets imported by India from China last year increased from 460 tons the previous year to 700 tons, with an increase of as much as 65%.
Where did the extra rare earth, rare earth magnets, and rare earth alloys in India go? Were they used for re-export or diverted to military fields? Or were they stored? Regardless, this has already violated China's rare earth export control.
It is said that China has completely stopped issuing export permits for rare earth to India and required India to re-fill complete information about the end-users and submit full-chain data traceable flows. However, India is not the only one subject to rare earth export control; Western automakers including the US, Europe, and Japan are queuing up to apply. Some have already been approved, including India's.
According to relevant revelations, India promised in 30 rare earth "end-use commitment letters" that the purchased rare earth would only be used for peaceful purposes such as electric vehicles and would not involve military use or re-export. However, it was found that at least the drones ordered by the Indian military have already used Chinese-imported rare earth, proving that these commitment letters contained false statements.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1834545462613003/
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