China has emerged a new problem with its rare earths: smuggling

China is deploying police, customs agents and even spies to stop the smuggling of its increasingly precious Rare earthcritical minerals on which it maintains an official embargo.

Why is it important. The Asian giant The world production of these materials is obsessively controllingessential for the car, technological and military industry.

Its new anti -policy campaign aggravates even more the shortage that US and European companies are already suffering, who are not finding short -term alternatives.

The context. China cut legal exports of seven types of rare earths –and magnets manufactured with them– last April 4. The measure is part of a pressure strategy for the United States to reduce tariffs on Chinese products and allow the sale of sensitive military technology to China.

Yes, but. Smuggling had historically been an escape valve. Chinese organized crime unions came to traffic half of the country’s annual production before 2010.

• Multinationals such as Boeing, Volkswagen and Toyota depended on supply chains where legal and illegal production was mixed, according to a report from The New York Times.

Between bambalins. Senior customs, trade, police and intelligence services met on May 9 to Plan the offensive. Three days later, representatives of eleven national ministries and seven provinces issued a joint statement: the control of strategic mineral exports is “related to national security.”

In detail. The new license system demands thorough documentation. Complete traceability. Chinese companies have to certify not only who buys the material, but how it will be used at each subsequent stage of production, including photographs of final products.

This information, in addition to avoiding smuggling, can also become a detailed map of the use of rare earths abroad for the Chinese government. And that would facilitate future attacks directed against specific companies and countries: they will know who will produce what.

The facts. Traditional smuggling routes have been complicated:

With the scarcity getting worse outside China and prices shooting, the potential benefits for smugglers willing to assume the risk are enormous. But new security measures make the game more and more dangerous.

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