Auto sector seeks government action on China rare earth magnet imports
(You can now subscribe to our
(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel
The automobile industry has sought government support in expediting approvals from the Chinese government for importing rare earth magnets used in various applications, including passenger cars.As per the industry sources, various domestic suppliers have already sought approval from the Chinese government through their local vendors in China.However, no approvals have been granted so far, sources said. China controls over 90 per cent of global processing capacity for the magnets, used across multiple sectors including automobiles, home appliances and clean energy.The Chinese government has put restrictions, with effect from April 4, mandating special export licences for seven rare earth elements and related magnets.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
5 minutes ago
- Time of India
Gautam Adani visits Chinese equipment makers as US legal woes linger
Indian billionaire Gautam Adani traveled to China last week to meet industrial equipment manufacturers, marking what appears to be his first overseas trip since the US unveiled criminal and civil cases against him in November. The visit, including to a solar module maker, underscores Adani's continued efforts to maintain momentum in renewables even as he faces heightened scrutiny abroad. Sagar Adani , who oversees the green arm of the conglomerate's sprawling empire, accompanied his uncle on the trip, according to a social media post by one of the companies he visited. The trip to China could signal a renewed push for international engagement as Gautam Adani tries to shake off controversies, from US legal troubles to investor concerns about corporate governance practices, following a bruising short-seller report in early 2023. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like The Prices of Solar Panels Might Actually Surprise You Solar Panels | Search Ads Get Info Asia's second-richest person, along with his nephew Sagar, face criminal and civil charges in the US over their alleged involvement in a $250 million bribery scheme to pay regional officials in India to lock in solar-power contracts. — BROAD_ltd (@BROAD_ltd) Live Events The Adani Group has denied the claims, though both Gautam and Sagar have curtailed their international travel since the indictment was announced. The Indian conglomerate is building one of the largest renewable energy parks — five times the size of Paris — near India's western coast with solar panels and wind turbines. The billionaire visited a Jinko Solar Co. manufacturing plant, inspecting the facility's automated production lines, the Shanghai-based company said in a statement on June 4. Its energy storage solutions are well-suited to India's high-temperature conditions and will be integrated into Adani's projects to bolster grid stability and renewable energy absorption, it said. Adani also visited Broad Group's facilities, the Chinese firm said in a post on X. The company has a range of subsidiaries that includes a wind turbine manufacturer. A spokesperson for Adani didn't immediately comment. The group's renewable energy ramp up plans are crucial for two of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi 's policy pledges — making the country carbon neutral by 2070 and self-reliant, especially in manufacturing. India is one of the biggest markets for China's solar modules and Adani's visit could also signal room for better business ties between the two countries. While relations between the nuclear-armed neighbors remain fraught, there have recently been signs of a thawing. In January, they agreed to resume direct flights, facilitate visas and restart sharing data of trans-border rivers. A few months later, the nations announced the resumption of an annual pilgrimage to the Tibet Autonomous Region, organized by India's foreign ministry, that had been suspended for years after border clashes erupted.
Time of India
11 minutes ago
- Time of India
AI Resurrections and Their Place in India's Tech Landscape- Could India Lead the AI Afterlife Market? Digital Resurrection Meets Desi Sentiment.
Why India Makes Sense for AI Afterlife Services: Live Events The Ethical Conflict: When the world witnessed Zhang Yiyi, a Chinese father, share a video of his 'conversation with his departed son made possible by an AI-powered avatar,' people on the internet were left in awe and discomfort. The ability to "resurrect" the departed sounds like a concept straight out of science fiction; with AI, however, it has entered the mainstream tech conversations. The " Grief Tech " sector has piqued India's interest due to its potential benefits, especially given the country's profound connections to legacy and to the world of AI resurrections , also known as 'Grief Tech,' a blend of generative AI, deepfake technology, and emotional design that replicates the face, voice, mannerisms, and appearance of the startups like South Korea's DeepBrain AI and the U.S.-based HereAfter AI are already creating grief-tech services, such as interactive memorial avatars that simulate conversations with the deceased. These services blend audio cloning, facial synthesis, and memory curation. Closer to home, startups like Deepsync and Resemble AI (which has Indian engineering roots) are laying the technical foundation for voice cloning and emotion AI in India. While India doesn't yet have a fully dedicated grief tech startup, the building blocks are firmly in offers a unique cultural context for the digital afterlife , like its strong ancestral reverence. Indian society places high emotional and ritualistic value on honoring the departed. Services that could potentially preserve their being or simulate the departed's voice or likeness could appeal to this from satisfying sentimental aspects, India has a massive digital archival potential. Thanks to smartphone penetration, the average urban Indian now leaves behind gigabytes of videos, photos, and voice messages, perfect for AI to digest and generate optimal Indian start-ups, supported by a large AI talent pool and lower development costs, can build tools for this market a lot more cost-effectively than most of their global counterparts. (Economic Survey 2023-24, Nasscom-Deloitte AI talent report)Startups working in synthetic media, such as Deepsync (voice cloning for podcasting), and academic labs at IIIT-Hyderabad and IIT-Madras, have the technical backbone to power such services. Generative AI labs like Sarvam AI are also investing in emotion-sensitive models that could power ethical memory bots . These players might not brand themselves as "grief tech," but they're producing the very engines on which India's version of the digital afterlife could related to death are difficult to talk about and are often associated with immense sensitivity, making the inevitability of controversy surrounding digital resurrection evident. The concept of digital resurrection continues to evoke mixed opinions, with concerns of privacy and ethics. Critics warn against psychological dependency, exploitation of grief, and issues of consent, especially when the departed never agreed on being 'digitally revived.' The emergence of this concept challenges conventional understandings of mourning and memory in an increasingly digital world. It has also raised awareness about the significance of digital wills among the at it through a culture-centric lens, cultural attitudes may vary sharply across regions in India; while some embrace AI for spiritual continuity, others could see it as an interference with 'karmic cycles' or 'dharma. The legal framework in India remains underdeveloped regarding issues such as the data rights of the deceased, regulations surrounding deepfakes, and the management of digital India continues to define its position in the global AI landscape, grief tech could become a niche where Indian startups innovate with both cultural and emotional intelligence; blending memory, technology, and emotion into a service economy tailored to the afterlife.
The Hindu
11 minutes ago
- The Hindu
U.S., China say they have agreed on framework to resolve their trade disputes
Senior U.S. and Chinese negotiators have agreed on a framework to get their trade negotiations back on track after a series of disputes that threatened to derail them, both sides have said. The announcement came at the end of two days of talks in the British capital that wrapped up late on Tuesday (June 10, 2025). Editorial: Big deal: On the U.S.-China trade deal The meetings appeared to focus on finding a way to resolve disputes over mineral and technology exports that had shaken a fragile truce on trade reached in Geneva last month. It's not clear whether any progress was made on the more fundamental differences over China's sizeable trade surplus with the United States. 'First we had to get sort of the negativity out and now we can go forward,' U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters after the meetings. Asian stock markets rose on Wednesday (June 11) after the agreement was announced. The talks followed a phone call between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping last week to try to calm the waters. Li Chenggang, a Vice-Minister of Commerce and China's International Trade Representative, said the two sides had agreed in principle on a framework for implementing the consensus reached on the phone call and at the talks on Geneva, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Further details, including any plans for a potential next round of talks, were not immediately available. Mr. Li and Wang Wentao, China's Commerce Minister, were part of the delegation led by Vice-Premier He Lifeng. They met with Mr. Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at Lancaster House, a 200-year-old mansion near Buckingham Palace. Wendy Cutler, a former U.S. trade negotiator, said the disputes had frittered away 30 of the 90 days the two sides have to try to resolve their disputes. They agreed in Geneva to a 90-day suspension of most of the 100%-plus tariffs they had imposed on each other in an escalating trade war that sparked fears of recession. The World Bank, citing a rise in trade barriers, cut its projections on Tuesday (June 11) for U.S. and global economic growth this year. 'The U.S. and China lost valuable time in restoring their Geneva agreements,' said Ms. Cutler, now vice-president at the Asia Society Policy Institute. 'Now, only sixty days remain to address issues of concern, including unfair trade practices, excess capacity, transshipment and fentanyl.' Since the Geneva talks, the U.S. and China have exchanged angry words over advanced semiconductors that power artificial intelligence, visas for Chinese students at American universities and rare earth minerals that are vital to carmakers and other industries. China, the world's biggest producer of rare earths, has signalled it may speed up the issuing of export licenses for the elements. Beijing, in turn, wants the U.S. to lift restrictions on Chinese access to the technology used to make advanced semiconductors. Mr. Lutnick said that resolving the rare earths issue is a fundamental part of the agreed-upon framework, and that the U.S. will remove measures it had imposed in response. He did not specify which measures. 'When they approve the licenses, then you should expect that our export implementation will come down as well,' he said. Ms. Cutler said it would be unprecedented for the U.S. to negotiate on its export controls, which she described as an irritant that China has been raising for nearly 20 years. 'By doing so, the U.S. has opened a door for China to insist on adding export controls to future negotiating agendas,' she said. In Washington, a federal appeals court agreed on Tuesday (June 10) to let the government keep collecting tariffs that Mr. Trump has imposed not just on China but also on other countries worldwide while the administration appeals a ruling against his signature trade policy. Mr. Trump said earlier that he wants to 'open up China,' the world's dominant manufacturer, to U.S. products. 'If we don't open up China, maybe we won't do anything,' Mr. Trump said at the White House. 'But we want to open up China.'
