US President Donald Trump on Monday signed a landmark pact with visiting Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to boost the US’ access to rare earths and other critical minerals, an effort to counter China’s tight grip on the supply chains of key metals.
The two governments are to jointly invest in a swathe of mines and processing projects in Australia to boost production of commodities used in advanced technologies from electric vehicles to semiconductors and fighter planes.
Australia has an US$8.5 billion “pipeline that we have ready to go,” Albanese said at a meeting between the two leaders at the White House.
Photo: AP
“In about a year from now, we’ll have so much critical mineral and rare earths that you won’t know what to do with them,” Trump said.
The US has been locked in a rare earths tussle with China since Beijing fought back against Trump’s trade offensive earlier this year, imposing export curbs on the materials. It has since expanded those restrictions. The prospect of even tighter supply has injected momentum into a US push to build alternative production capacity, even as industry executives and analysts caution that replacing a vast network of mines and refining would not be swift.
The leaders said the agreement would include Australian processing of rare earths and other critical minerals, with Albanese adding that Australia had “capacity” to expand those efforts.
The US and Australia pledged to protect their domestic markets from “unfair trade practices,” including through adopting trading standards that involve “price floors or similar measures,” according to the text of the deal circulated by Albanese’s office.
The deal is to begin with the US and Australia each paying more than US$1 billion over the next six months for initial projects, with some further projects in both countries, Albanese said.
The document did not include details on which entities would provide that financing.
The Pentagon would help fund the construction of the planned 100 tonne-a-year Alcoa-Sojitz gallium refinery in Western Australia as part of the deal, the White House said.
The Export-Import Bank of the US is also issuing letters of interest for more than US$2.2 billion in financing on critical mineral projects.
Asked about the pact, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Guo Jiakun (郭嘉昆) said that “the formation of global production and supply chains is the result of market forces and business decisions.”
“Countries rich in critical mineral resources should play an active role in ensuring the security and stability of industrial and supply chains, and in safeguarding normal economic and trade cooperation,” he told a regular news briefing in Beijing.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday said that China using armed force against Taiwan could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, allowing the country to mobilize the Japanese armed forces under its security laws. Takaichi made the remarks during a parliamentary session while responding to a question about whether a "Taiwan contingency" involving a Chinese naval blockade would qualify as a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, according to a report by Japan’s Asahi Shimbun. "If warships are used and other armed actions are involved, I believe this could constitute a survival-threatening situation," Takaichi was quoted as saying in the report. Under Japan’s security legislation,
RSS