The US government plans to take more equity stakes in critical minerals companies, a White House official said on Thursday, calling the once-rare move necessary to counter China’s dominance in the raw materials used in everything from semiconductors to MRI machines.
“I think they’re the norm from our perspective,” US National Energy Dominance Council executive director Jarrod Agen said at a forum in Washington. “There is a broad scope of different companies who are coming to us. They’re making the right case.”
Critical minerals such as gallium and cobalt are used in products ranging from iPhones to industrial magnets. They are also vital for defense systems, including missile guidance, radar and jet engines, as well as batteries and other technologies.
Photo: AFP
Over the past year, the administration of US President Donald Trump has spent more than US$1 billion to take stakes in critical minerals and mining companies.
Among the deals are US$400 million in exchange for a 15 percent stake in MP Materials Corp, with the deal announced in July, US$670 million in exchange for a stake in magnet producer Vulcan Elements Inc and US$35.6 million for a 10 percent stake in Canadian minerals explorer Trilogy Metals Inc.
The Trump administration in September announced that it was acquiring a stake in Lithium Americas Corp, which is developing the largest lithium deposit in the country, as part of a deal to restructure a US$2.23 billion loan that the Canadian company held with the US Department of Energy.
Agen, in a brief interview, declined to specify what company could be next.
The strategy of investing taxpayer dollars in companies that the administration has deemed essential to national security comes as the US’ reliance on China for the crucial materials has become a flash point in a trade dispute.
Beijing responded to US export restrictions by curbing shipments of rare earths, a move that briefly disrupted global supplies before China eased the limits after Washington lifted its countermeasures.
“We’re literally buying equity, getting equity in companies to give the backing of the US, because that’s the only way we’re going to catch up with China on these things,” Agen said in his remarks at the American Growth Summit, which was sponsored by companies such as Citigroup Inc and Nvidia Corp.
“They know the government is backing us,” he said. “No one wants to mess with President Trump and so we can actually get the materials.”
In Italy’s storied gold-making hubs, jewelers are reworking their designs to trim gold content as they race to blunt the effect of record prices and appeal to shoppers watching their budgets. Gold prices hit a record high on Thursday, surging near US$5,600 an ounce, more than double a year ago as geopolitical concerns and jitters over trade pushed investors toward the safe-haven asset. The rally is putting undue pressure on small artisans as they face mounting demands from customers, including international brands, to produce cheaper items, from signature pieces to wedding rings, according to interviews with four independent jewelers in Italy’s main
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has talked up the benefits of a weaker yen in a campaign speech, adopting a tone at odds with her finance ministry, which has refused to rule out any options to counter excessive foreign exchange volatility. Takaichi later softened her stance, saying she did not have a preference for the yen’s direction. “People say the weak yen is bad right now, but for export industries, it’s a major opportunity,” Takaichi said on Saturday at a rally for Liberal Democratic Party candidate Daishiro Yamagiwa in Kanagawa Prefecture ahead of a snap election on Sunday. “Whether it’s selling food or
CONCERNS: Tech companies investing in AI businesses that purchase their products have raised questions among investors that they are artificially propping up demand Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday said that the company would be participating in OpenAI’s latest funding round, describing it as potentially “the largest investment we’ve ever made.” “We will invest a great deal of money,” Huang told reporters while visiting Taipei. “I believe in OpenAI. The work that they do is incredible. They’re one of the most consequential companies of our time.” Huang did not say exactly how much Nvidia might contribute, but described the investment as “huge.” “Let Sam announce how much he’s going to raise — it’s for him to decide,” Huang said, referring to OpenAI
The global server market is expected to grow 12.8 percent annually this year, with artificial intelligence (AI) servers projected to account for 16.5 percent, driven by continued investment in AI infrastructure by major cloud service providers (CSPs), market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. Global AI server shipments this year are expected to increase 28 percent year-on-year to more than 2.7 million units, driven by sustained demand from CSPs and government sovereign cloud projects, TrendForce analyst Frank Kung (龔明德) told the Taipei Times. Demand for GPU-based AI servers, including Nvidia Corp’s GB and Vera Rubin rack systems, is expected to remain high,
RSS