WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signed the Critical Minerals Agreement at the White House on Monday, as China imposes strict rules on exporting its critical minerals overseas and the United States eyes the continent’s rich rare earth resources.
The two leaders described the agreement as an $8.5 billion pact between allies. Trump said negotiations had been going on for months.
Republican President Trump boasted about the deal, saying, “About a year from now, we’re going to have so much important minerals and rare earths that we won’t know what to do with them.” “They’re worth $2.”
Mr Albanese added that the deal would take US-Australia relations to the “next level”.
Earlier this month, the Chinese government announced: Seek approval from foreign companies The Chinese government has ordered the export of magnets that contain even trace amounts of rare earth materials that originate in China or are manufactured using Chinese technology. The Trump administration argues that this would give China far-reaching power over the global economy by controlling high-tech supply chains.
“Australia is going to be really, really helpful in our efforts to lead the global economy and reduce the risk and mitigate the risks of rare earth theft, like we’re seeing from China,” Kevin Hassett, chairman of the White House National Economic Council, told reporters on Monday morning ahead of President Trump’s meeting with the Albanians.
Mr Hassett noted Australia had the best mining economy in the world and praised its refiners and rich rare earth resources. Among the Australian officials accompanying the Albanians are ministers who oversee resources, industry and science, and Australia has dozens of critical minerals sought by the United States because they are needed for everything from fighter jets and electric cars to laptops and phones.
Promoting further mines
The deal could have an immediate impact on U.S. rare earth supplies if American companies secure some of what Australian mines are already producing, but it will take years, if not decades, to develop enough rare earth supplies outside of China to reduce its dominance.
Pini Althaus, who founded USA Rare Earths in 2019 and is now CEO of Cove Capital, working on developing new mines in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, said it would be important for contracts to buy raw materials from Australian mines to include price floors similar to those offered by the US government. Promised MP material This is to protect against price manipulation by China this summer.
For decades, China has used tactics to eliminate competition by releasing excess critical minerals onto the market, driving down prices and forcing mining companies in other parts of the world out of business.
“I think taking the price-fixing arrow out of China’s quiver is an absolutely critical first step in allowing Australia and the Western world to develop significant mineral projects that meet supply chain demands,” said Mr Althaus, who has spent nearly a quarter of a century in the mining business.
The deal highlights how the United States is using its global allies to counter China, especially as China leverages its traditional advantages in rare earth materials. President Trump’s officials have used Beijing’s tactics as a rallying cry for the United States and its allies to work together to minimize China’s influence.
“China is a command-and-control economy, and we and our allies are not commanded or controlled,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last week. “They are national economies and they are not going to allow a group of bureaucrats in Beijing to try to control the world’s supply chains.”
The level of investment outlined in the agreement shows how serious both countries are in tackling this issue.
“The United States and Australia will invest more than $3 billion in joint critical mineral projects within six months. This is an unprecedented speed of capital injection,” said Gracelyn Bhaskaran, director of the Critical Minerals Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
But Mr Althaus said Australia could not supply everything the US needed. keep investing in a long-term effort to Develop other mining and processing We carry out projects both domestically and in friendly countries. He said Central Asia may be one of the most promising investment destinations because it has significant rare earth reserves and had already done some of the initial development work when the Soviet Union ruled the region. That could shave years off the time it takes to build a new mine there.
“Keep in mind that China has a nearly 40-year lead over us,” Althaus said. “It will take at least a few decades for them to catch up with China in terms of being able to meet their own supply chain requirements.”
Albanese’s visit comes shortly before President Trump plans to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea later this month.
security partnership
Another topic was AUKUS. Security agreements with Australia, the US and the UK It was signed during the Democratic administration of US President Joe Biden.
President Trump said on Monday that while AUKUS was established “a while ago,” the agreement is now “moving very quickly and very well.” “Our defense and security partnership with AUKUS is very important to us,” Albanese said.
Secretary of the Navy John Phelan said the United States wants to adopt the original AUKUS framework and improve it for the three signatories while clarifying “some of its ambiguities.”
“So it should be a win-win for everyone,” Phelan said.
The centre-left Albanian was re-elected in May; proposed immediately after his victory His party claimed to have increased its majority by not modeling itself on Trumpism.
In his victory speech, Mr Albanese told supporters: “Australians have chosen to face global challenges the Australian way and build a future with care for one another.”
___
Associated Press writers Josh Funk and Didi Tan contributed to this report.
