US pitches ‘critical minerals club’ to counter ‘predatory’ trade practices
US pitches ‘critical minerals club’ to counter ‘predatory’ trade practices
The US signed eleven new bilateral critical minerals frameworks with allies as part of its efforts to shift China’s dominance over the global industry.The frameworks were signed this week at the US’ first critical minerals ministerial event, hosted by the US State Department in Washington, which was attended by 54 countries and the European Commission.Though speakers did not refer to China specifically, it was clear that discussions centered around access and availability within the mining and processing sectors of critical minerals, industries that are largely influenced by the political whims of China.In 2025, China’s introduction of export bans and restrictions on rare earths and critical minerals triggered a series of back-and-forth trade manoeuvres from the US, exposing the vulnerability of the global supply chain and the urgency at which nations need to diversify.At a Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) event held on February 3, US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the US is typically a free market country.“We don’t like messing with markets, but if you have someone who’s dominant who can flood a market with a particular material, they have the ability to essentially destroy the economic value of a company or a country’s production,” he said.“Within this club of nations there would be a price floor, so people would know that with those price floors we can attract long-term capital.“The private sector can get involved and make investments in mining and refining, knowing that there’s going to be a market and they don’t have to worry about the bottom falling out because of predatory trade practices.”During opening remarks at the ministerial, US Vice President JD Vance said foreign supply of critical minerals floods markets and causes prices to collapse.“The result is a global market where consistent investment is nearly impossible, and it will stay that way so long as prices are erratic and unpredictable,” he said.“We all face the same vulnerability — access to the things that protect our people and sustain our way of life… the fundamental supply chains that support these industries sometimes can vanish in the blink of an eye without any control or influence from many of the countries in this room.”According to the Office of the US Trade Representative, the European Union, Japan and Mexico have also agreed to consider new policies such as price floors, coordinated stockpiling and shared regulatory standards to solve critical minerals supply chain vulnerabilities with the US.In the past five month, the US has also signed ten other critical mineral frameworks or memorandum of understandings (MoU) — including the $13b deal signed with Australia — and reached completion of negotiations on such agreements with seventeen other countries.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said diversity and choice will only come if it is broadly adopted across multiple countries.“This must be an international, global initiative with like-minded countries who all have one thing in common,” he said.“We want to see a diverse across the world, so all of our economies can prosper without ever having these things, at worst-case scenario, being used as leverage against us or any other disruption that could come to the market that would undermine our collective economic security.”Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King represented Australia at the US-led critical minerals dialogue of ministers.During the event, Minister King launched the new Australian Critical Minerals Prospectus, which highlights 49 mines and 29 midstream critical minerals processing projects ready for investment across Australia, supporting the Australia-US critical minerals and rare earths framework.
