The US and European Union on Friday reached an agreement to coordinate on securing critical minerals and bolstering supply chains, in a move meant to reduce reliance on China for rare earths and permanent magnets.
The plan includes an agreement to collaborate on setting price floors, subsidies and other trade measures to boost a critical minerals market among the participating nations, according to a document issued by the US.
The Office of the US Trade Representative and the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Trade and Economic Security will implement the action plan, it said.
“We will explore how trade measures, such as border-adjusted price floors, can strengthen our domestic critical minerals industries and the downstream sectors critical to our industrial competitiveness,” US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement.
The action plan doesn’t mention China by name but it is the intended target. China processes more than 80% of the world’s rare earths, and its decision last year to impose export controls on certain rare earths and permanent magnets intensified the trade war with the US.
The minerals accord is a rare bright spot in the EU-US relationship, which has come under fresh strain after President Donald Trump blasted Europeans for not helping with his war against Iran. The minerals plan carries symbolic significance, indicating the two sides are aligned on the need to reduce Chinese supply-chain dependence for the essential materials.
(By Joe Deaux)
