US, Australia sign rare earth, mineral agreement as China tightens supply

As China tightens its grip on global supply, President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have signed a deal on rare earth and crucial minerals.

The two leaders met at the White House on Monday to sign the agreement.

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Trump claimed that negotiations had taken place over the course of four or five months. According to Trump, the two leaders will also talk about military equipment, submarines, and trade.

Albanese described it as a “ready-to-go $8.5 billion pipeline.”

The two nations will each invest $1 billion in mining and processing projects over the next six months, according to a copy of the agreement that the prime minister’s office provided. Additionally, they establish a minimum price cap for essential minerals, a move that Western miners have long demanded.

According to US Geological Survey data, Australia also has significant reserves, but China has the largest rare earths reserves in the world.

The two leaders also planned to talk about the $ 299.4 billion agreement that, under the leadership of then-US President Joe Biden, would allow Australia to purchase US nuclear submarines in 2032 before creating a new submarine class with Britain.

According to US Navy Secretary John Phelan, the two countries were “working very closely” to improve the original framework for all three parties and “clarify some of the ambiguity that was in the prior agreement.”

Trump claimed that these details were “just minor details.”

Trump argued that there shouldn’t be any more clarifications because the building is currently moving at full speed ahead.

Defence Minister Richard Marles last week claimed he was aware of the review’s conclusion, and that Australian officials have sincere assurances that it will continue.

China’s export restrictions on rare earth

Australian officials have emphasized that Canberra is making money under AUKUS, a trilateral military partnership between the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom, which contributes $ 2 billion this year to boost production at US submarine shipyards and is working to keep US Virginia-class submarines at its Indian Ocean naval base from 2027.

As the Pentagon urged Canberra to reduce its defense spending, the delay of ten months has heightened some worry in Australia. Last month, the leaders of the United Nations General Assembly had a brief meeting.

As Western governments struggle to reduce their dependence on China for rare earths and minor metals, Australia is willing to sell shares of its planned strategic reserve of important minerals to allies, including Britain.

The expansion of rare earth export controls by Beijing was criticized by senior US officials last week as a threat to global supply chains. The materials are essential for everything from electric vehicles to military radars and aircraft engines, which are produced in China as the largest producer in the world.