US, UK, EU, Australia and more to meet to discuss critical minerals alliance | Mining
Ministers from the US, EU, UK, Japan, Australia and New Zealand will meet in Washington this week to discuss a strategic alliance on critical minerals.
The summit is seen as a step to repair transatlantic ties fractured by a year of conflict with Donald Trump and pave the way for other alliances, including a steel-centered one, that would help countries reduce risks from China.
Australia said on Friday it would build up a strategic mineral reserve worth A$1.2bn (£610m) that it believes is vulnerable to a supply disruption from China, which restricted rare earth exports last April in response to Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs.
This is the second summit on the issue in a month and involves G7 members (UK, US, Japan, France, Germany, Italy and Canada) as well as India and around 20 countries, including South Korea, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and possibly Argentina.
One area of discussion will be calls for the US to guarantee minimum prices for critical minerals and rare earths. A report this week Washington decided against the idea Shares fell in Australia, which has positioned itself as a critical mineral alternative to China with its decision to stockpile elements such as antimony and gallium.
It follows in the footsteps of Japan, which has been actively accumulating reserves for years to build resistance to China’s desire to cut supply to advance its foreign policy.
Canberra’s resources minister Madeleine King said the US decision not to offer a minimum price “will not prevent Australia from continuing our critical mineral reserves programme”.
The Washington meeting was organized by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio; It and other participating countries hope to expand supply chains outside of China as quickly as possible with potential pricing and investment support.
“Strengthening critical mineral supply chains with international partners is vital to the US economy, national security, technological leadership and a resilient energy future,” the US State Department said in a statement before the summit.
EU sources said that if the talks are successful, a joint statement would come, which could be seen as a turning point in relations with allies working with the US to reduce risks from China rather than constantly fighting Trump’s tariff threats.
A UK minister will attend, the Foreign Office said, adding: “The UK’s economic security goes hand in hand with national security. That’s why we’re working to deliver a diversified critical mineral supply chain, which is a vital step in securing economic growth in the UK.”
“We look forward to continuing these important discussions with key partners.”
The EU is also expected to use the summit to pressure the US to reduce its new global steel derivative tariffs; This will lead to punitive taxes on steel content in products containing steel elements, from aluminum doors to bicycles, from hair straighteners to offshore wind turbines.
The first derivative tariff list was published in August, after Trump’s handshake over the EU tariff deal at a Scottish golf course in July, but before the joint statement on the deal at the end of August.
The Trump administration has threatened to introduce a second list of up to 700 products this January, but the list has yet to emerge, giving the EU and the UK hope they can still achieve their goals.
“We have made a lot of complaints,” said one EU official, while another said: “We hope that in August they will take into account this situation, which is a violation of the agreement.
“They may argue that the first batch was announced between the agreement in Scotland and the joint US-EU statement, but the second batch is a violation of the agreement.”
“It’s about trust. You sign an agreement and you trust that it will be implemented,” an EU source said. “The constant threats of a 10 percent tax on champagne because of Greenland or a 200 percent tax on champagne because they don’t sign up to the ‘peace board’ need to end.”
The Trump administration has been holding multilateral consultations since October, when it agreed to a 12-month trade truce with China, which had threatened to cut rare earth supplies amid an escalating tariff dispute.
Minerals have become one of the most important raw materials for modern manufacturing, needed to produce everything from smartphones to fighter jets, from wind turbines to music speakers.
Almost all of Europe’s supply of permanent magnets made from rare earth elements with high magnetic properties comes from China.
According to senior European Commission officials in December, the EU uses 20,000 tonnes of permanent magnets a year; of this, 17,000 to 18,000 tonnes come from China and only 1,000 tonnes from the EU.
