According to a Reuters report on the 22nd, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on the same day that the company’s “Optimus” humanoidrobotmass production plans will be affected byChina Rare EarthImpact of Export Control Measures. To this end, he said that Tesla is actively applying for an export license for China's rare earth permanent magnet materials.
Musk and "Optimus Prime" humanoid robot Source: Foreign media data map
According to reports, Musk said during the company’s earnings conference call on April 22, local time:"We are negotiating this with China and hope that we can get permission to use rare earth permanent magnet materials. China wants assurances that these materials will not be used for military purposes, which obviously will not be the case. They will only be used for humanoid robots."He believes that the Optimus Prime humanoid robot "is not a weapon" and therefore meets the requirements. Musk has previously said he expects Tesla to produce thousands of Optimus Prime robots this year.
According to a previous report by Securities Times, high-performance NdFeB permanent magnet material is the core material of robot servo motors. Public information shows that a single humanoid robot usually requires more than 40 servo motors, each motor requires 50 to 100 grams of NdFeB material, and the total amount can reach 2 to 4 kilograms. Taking Tesla's "Optimus Prime" as an example, a single robot requires about 3.5 kilograms of high-performance NdFeB.
On April 4 this year, China’s Ministry of Commerce and the General Administration of Customs jointly issued an announcement announcing the implementation of export controls on some medium and heavy rare earth-related items. This move is to safeguard national security and interests and fulfill international non-proliferation obligations. According to the announcement, the export control involves seven categories of medium and heavy rare earth-related items including samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium, including metals, alloys, targets, permanent magnet materials, oxides, compounds and mixtures and other forms. These items have dual-use properties, and their export control is a common international practice. NdFeB permanent magnet materials containing terbium and dysprosium are also listed as relevant controlled items.
The announcement lists the specific controlled items and corresponding customs commodity numbers. When exporting relevant items, export operators must apply for permission from the commerce department of the State Council in accordance with the relevant provisions of the "Export Control Law of the People's Republic of China" and the "Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Export Control of Dual-Use Items". When making customs declaration, the export operator should indicate in the remarks column whether it is a controlled item and list the export control code of dual-use items.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce stated that the Chinese government hopes to strengthen foreign exchanges and cooperation and promote compliant trade through bilateral export control dialogue and exchange mechanisms.