US President Donald Trump’s administration called Wednesday for a preferential trade zone among allies on critical minerals crucial for advanced technology, in a rare turn to multilateralism in the face of China’s dominance.
Representatives of more than 50 countries gathered at the State Department to launch what Vice President JD Vance called the Agreement on Trade in Critical Minerals, a far cry from the Trump administration’s disdain for traditional allies since returning to office a year ago.
China last year flexed its muscle in a trade war with Trump by tightening controls on critical minerals, including rare earths vital to modern technologies from smartphones to electric cars to fighter jets.
“I think a lot of us have learned the hard way in some ways over the last year, how much our economies depend on these critical minerals,” Vance told the meeting.
Vance called for a “trading bloc among allies and partners” that guarantees American access while “also expanding production across the entire zone.”
Vance, who has billed himself as a champion of the American working class, said that the effort would create “good-paying jobs, skilled jobs, for the American labor force.”
“But we seek to make sure our friends and our allies are part of this and that you all are covered as well,” said Vance, a frequent critic of US involvement overseas.
The bloc, which aims to cover two-thirds of the the global economy, would regulate minimum prices for critical minerals, fearing that major exports by China could quickly rattle markets.
“Investment is nearly impossible, and it will stay that way so long as prices are erratic and unpredictable,” Vance said.
China mines some 60 percent of the world’s rare earths and processes around 90 percent. In October, it offered the United States a one-year reprieve in a deal with Trump in October.
The United States has aggressively reached agreements on critical minerals with allies including Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Thailand.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said that another 11 countries will join Wednesday and that another 20 are interested in participating.
– Critical to global economy-
Global raw production of rare earths has increased sharply in recent years.
Critical minerals comprise dozens of materials such as cobalt, nickel, manganese, graphite and lithium — as well as “rare earths,” a set of 17 metallic elements essential to many high-tech devices.
Japan, with its high-tech industry and turbulent history with China, is especially concerned on the supply. This week Japan said it found potential in the first deep-sea search for rare earths.
“As any supply chain disruption would bring a significant impact on the global economy, we should work together to address this challenge,” senior Japanese official Iwao Horii told the meeting.
Horii said that Japan was boosting its own efforts at home and that “the key is to diversify supply sources.”
Trump since returning to office has vowed to use US might to secure wealth only for itself, even flirting with invading Greenland, an autonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark.
Trump will still seek US dominance on minerals.
On Monday he unveiled “Project Vault,” which aims to stockpile critical minerals and effectively anything else needed by US industry.
The project will be driven by a $10 billion loan from the Export-Import Bank of the United States and $1.7 billion in private capital, a White House official said.
Vance accused former president Joe Biden of failing to address critical minerals, although the previous administration also had an initiative.
The Biden administration in 2022 launched the Minerals Security Partnership, which covered two dozen countries including key US allies and eventually expanded to include more areas — including Greenland.
The initiative focused on collaborative funding, with the Export-Import Bank under Biden proposing a $500 million loan for a rare-earths mine and processing plant in Australia.
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