Import of rare earth magnets from China resumes

Permanent or rare earth magnets are a crucial part of the automobile sector
| Photo Credit:
Doug Kanter

The government on Friday said that it has resumed the imports of rare earth or permanent magnets from China used in automobile and electronics and has already issued 30 certificates wherein importers have assured that these magnets will not be used for Defence or re-export to the US.

Earlier this week, businessline had reported that some of India’s top EV makers have reached out to the Centre — and associated line ministries — seeking necessary intervention to ensure continued supply of critical minerals, including Rare Earth Elements (REE), like magnets, from China.

The automakers were worried that such restrictions by China would hamper the India’s EV push.

More applications

Sources told businessline that the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has issued these certificates already in the last few days and more applications are on the approval stage.

“Chinese embassy had already said that once the DGFT gives them the certificates, it will take 45 days to clear the applications, which is their normal time. But, recently it has already cleared 30 applicants,” a senior government official said.

Chinese government has said that permanent magnets should not used in Defence and neither be exported to the US. So they take the declaration from the importers worldwide, the official explained.

“In the case of India, it has added one more condition that importer’s certificate is not enough and there should be a certificate from government too, assuring that the importer’s declaration is correct. DGFT has been made as the nodal point of Government of India and it will only declare that ‘this condition of China has been made — it is for domestic consumption and not for Defence, and not destined for US. Therefore, DGFT has already started giving these certificates to some of the individual importers,” the official added.

Permanent or rare earth magnets are a crucial part of the automobile sector, particularly neodymium-iron-boron (Nd-Fe-B), as they provide the strong magnetic fields needed for efficient and powerful electric motors – both in electric vehicles and internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.

Published on May 23, 2025

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