Washington is seeking to offset Beijing\u2019s control over strategic minerals supply chains<\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese struck a deal on Monday aimed at expanding America\u2019s access to critical minerals.
\nUnder the agreement Washington and Canberra will each invest over $1 billion in mining and processing projects in Australia over the next six months, part of Washington\u2019s strategy to reduce reliance on China for key resources.\u00a0
\nChina accounts for nearly 70% of the global production of critical minerals, which are essential for advanced technologies, including electric vehicles, semiconductors and weapons systems.
\nThe White House indicated that these investments would focus on critical mineral deposits valued at $53 billion, though specifics regarding the types or locations were not disclosed.\u00a0
\n\u201cIn about a year from now, we\u2019ll have so much critical mineral and rare earths that you won\u2019t know what to do with them,\u201d Trump told reporters.
\nAustralia has an $8.5 billion \u201cpipeline that we have ready to go,\u201d Albanese said at the meeting with Trump at the White House.
\nThe deal comes amid ongoing tensions between the US and China over rare-earth supplies. Earlier this year, Beijing retaliated against Trump\u2019s trade policies by imposing export restrictions on critical minerals.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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In early October, China announced new export controls on certain strategic minerals that have dual-use in military applications, citing national security. While the policy does not explicitly target the US, American high-tech companies remain heavily reliant on Chinese rare-earth supplies. \u00a0
\nThe increased supply uncertainty has fueled US efforts to establish alternative production capabilities. In response to Beijing\u2019s imposition of export controls on rare earths Trump threatened to impose an additional 100% tariff on Chinese goods starting in November, escalating tensions.
\nCommenting on the standoff with the US, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian reiterated last week that \u201ctariff wars and trade wars have no winners\u201d and urged for resolution through \u201cconsultation on the basis of equality, respect, and mutual benefit.\u201d
\nEarlier this year, Trump significantly raised \u201creciprocal tariffs\u201d on China, with some exceeding 100%. However, he later suspended the increase to facilitate trade talks, extending the pause until November 10. The current baseline tariff for China stands at 10%, though certain goods face higher rates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington is seeking to offset Beijing\u2019s control over strategic minerals supply chains US President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese struck a deal on Monday aimed at expanding…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20752,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t