Ministers from the US, EU, UK, Japan, Australia and New Zealand will meet in Washington this week to discuss a strategic alliance over critical minerals. The summit, involving about 20 countries including G7 members, India, South Korea, Mexico and possibly Argentina, aims to repair transatlantic ties strained by trade conflicts and to reduce dependence on China for rare earths.
Australia announced on Friday it would establish a A$1.2bn (£610m) strategic reserve of minerals vulnerable to supply disruption from China, which restricted rare earth exports in April in response to US tariffs. The meeting will also address calls for the US to guarantee a minimum price for critical minerals, though a recent report that Washington has decided against the idea sent Australian shares downward.
Canberra’s resources minister, Madeleine King, said a US decision not to offer minimum pricing “won’t stop Australia from pursuing our critical minerals reserve programme”. The summit, convened by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, aims to ramp up non-China supply chains with potential pricing and investment support.
The UK Foreign Office confirmed a UK minister will attend, stating: “UK economic security goes hand in hand with national security. That’s why we are working to ensure a diversified critical minerals supply chain.” The EU is expected to press the US to drop new global steel derivative tariffs, which have threatened products from bicycles to wind turbines.
EU sources said a successful meeting could lead to a joint statement marking a milestone in shifting relations from fighting Trump’s tariffs to cooperating on de-risking from China. The Trump administration has been convening multilateral consultations since October, when it agreed a 12-month trade truce with China over rare earth supplies.
