The United States is hosting ministers from dozens of countries this week in Washington, D.C., for a conference on critical minerals.
Officials are seeking to strengthen and diversify the country’s stockpiles of critical minerals essential to the defense industry and the development of artificial intelligence.
Most important on the agenda is the issue of setting minimum prices for critical minerals, which many countries are seeking. However, the US is reportedly withdrawing this proposal.
On Monday, US President Donald Trump announced the launch of a US strategic mineral reserve called Project Vault. It will be funded by $2 billion in private capital and a $10 billion loan from the U.S. Export-Import Bank.
What is the Minister of Critical Minerals?
The meeting is the first of the new Critical Minerals Ministerial Conference, a U.S. effort to build alliances aimed at countering China’s dominance of critical mineral supply chains around the world.
The plenary session of the Conference of Representatives will be held on Wednesday.
China currently controls most of the world’s rare earth minerals, including the metals needed to make many technology products, from smartphones to fighter jets. China owns 60 percent of these minerals and processes 90 percent of the world’s supply.
According to the US State Department, the cabinet meeting will be hosted by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and will be held at the State Department building near the White House.
Who is participating?
The U.S. will host delegations from more than 50 countries, the State Department said.
This includes the group of seven countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as representatives from the European Union, Australia and New Zealand.
Rubio met with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun on Tuesday on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting. In a post on X, Rubio wrote that he and Cho discussed recent commitments by the South Korean government to increase “investments to rebuild America’s critical industries and the importance of diversifying and securing critical mineral supply chains to strengthen our economy and national security.”
Also on Tuesday, Rubio met with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar to discuss cooperation on critical minerals.
What are important minerals? Why are they important?
These are non-fuel minerals used in the production of technological products such as batteries, watches, wiring, military equipment, and semiconductors.
The United States describes them as “essential to the U.S. economy or national security” and with “supply chains vulnerable to disruption.”
Nickel, cobalt, lithium, aluminum, and zinc are the most well-known and important minerals. The United States is completely dependent on imports for 12 critical minerals. Additionally, the United States imports at least half of its needs for 29 critical minerals.
Important minerals also include the 17 rare earth elements on the periodic table, including the 15 lanthanides (metallic elements), scandium, and yttrium. Twelve of these deposits are in China.
Rare earth metals have special magnetic properties and are needed in the production of permanent magnets used in industrial automation, electric vehicle motors, renewable energy generators, electronic equipment, and many medical devices.
Western nations have said they are concerned about access to rare earth metals, as China has near-total control over these minerals. For example, almost all permanent magnet supplies to Europe now come from China.
The processing costs of rare earths are high, and their mining uses large amounts of chemicals that produce toxic waste that is harmful to the environment.
Which country currently has a monopoly on important minerals?
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), global rare earth reserves are estimated to be approximately 110 million tons in 2024.
China has the most rare earth metals and has a “near monopoly,” the Center for Strategic and International Studies reported in 2024.
We have also applied for thousands of patents related to the processing technologies we have developed.
Last year, China began restricting exports of 12 types of rare earth metals it possesses. In April, China imposed export restrictions on seven types of rare earth minerals. In October, the remaining five metals were added to the list.
In late October, President Trump agreed to a trade ceasefire with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Conference in South Korea. China has agreed to suspend restrictions on five final metals for one year while the two countries continue trade negotiations. In return, President Trump dropped his threat of 100% tariffs on Chinese goods.
What are the main topics on the meeting agenda?
On Wednesday, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, Mr. Rubio, David Copley, Senior Director for Global Supply Chain, and Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg will give opening remarks.
Countries participating in the conference will discuss establishing mineral price floors, i.e. minimum prices for minerals or groups of minerals. Those calling for minimum prices say it reduces risk for investors, preserves supply from more places and prevents large companies from taking advantage of lower prices to crowd out smaller competitors.
But Reuters reported, citing unnamed sources, that the Trump administration is backing away from plans to guarantee such minimum prices. Australian mining stocks fell as a result.
Australia, which has large supplies of rare earth metals, is among the countries pushing hard to raise price floors, as it seeks to position itself as an alternative to China by investing heavily in developing its own processing capacity.
Analysts said the ministerial meeting would also be an opportunity for the United States to bring other countries in line with its policies on critical minerals.
“The United States is likely to encourage the other country to enter into a minerals agreement where American companies have priority or at least access to mineral deposits,” Rafael Debert, a postdoctoral fellow at Copenhagen Business School, told Al Jazeera.
Debert, who studies critical minerals, explained that while the United States has access to these deposits, Washington also wants to invest in these countries to expand production of certain minerals, particularly rare earth elements, cobalt, nickel and graphite.
“The United States is also likely to engage in reorganization of critical mineral supply chains to direct processing toward its own territory and the territories of its allies,” Debert said.
“However, this is still a future as the US has very little processing capacity and is still far from China’s advantage.”
Therefore, he said, the Washington conference is more likely to be about providing visibility into U.S. policy on critical minerals, rather than achieving “real progress in onshoring, reshoring, or friend-shoring of critical minerals.”
Which other countries are developing rare earth capabilities?
Australia has the world’s fourth largest reserves of rare earths, including metals such as neodymium used to make wind turbine magnets.
In October, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and President Trump signed the Significant Minerals Agreement, giving the United States access to Australia’s rare earth minerals in exchange for investment.
However, although Australia’s rare earth reserves are large, they are still only one-seventh the size of China’s, according to the USGS. As a result, experts said the United States is likely to seek supplies from other countries as well.
Greenland, which President Trump has said he wants to take over and make part of the United States, is also rich in important minerals, including rare earth metals. However, mining is restricted in Greenland, and the indigenous Inuit population opposes it.
Do countries stockpile their critical minerals?
Yes, similar to the US’ Project Vault, other countries are stockpiling critical minerals to counter Chinese market dominance and protect themselves from supply chain disruptions.
In March 2020, Japan introduced an international resource strategy to strengthen its stockpiling system for rare earth minerals.
Similarly, South Korea has long maintained significant mineral reserves managed by the state-run Korea Mines Rehabilitation and Mineral Resources Corporation.
In December, the European Commission adopted the RESourceEU action plan to secure the EU’s critical mineral supplies. The commission also announced the establishment of a European Center for Critical Materials earlier this year to diversify supply chains, including through stockpiling.
In January, the Albanon Government announced new details of Australia’s $1.2 billion Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve to secure supplies of key critical minerals.
