G7 finance ministers to meet in Washington to discuss rare earths

Finance ministers from the Group of Seven nations will meet on Monday in Washington to discuss rare earths supplies, in a bid to step up efforts to reduce reliance on critical minerals from China.

The meeting, which kicks off with a dinner on Sunday evening, will include finance ministers or cabinet ministers from the G7, the European Union, Australia, India, South Korea and Mexico.

Together, the grouping accounts for 60% of global demand for critical minerals.

“Urgency is the theme of the day. It’s a very big undertaking. There’s a lot of different angles, a lot of different countries involved and we really just need to move faster,” a senior U.S. official said.

The official gave no details on what further steps were planned by the Trump administration, which is pushing forward to boost domestic production and reduce reliance on China through agreements with Australia, Ukraine and other producers.

The U.S. signed an agreement with Australia in October aimed at countering China’s dominance in critical minerals that includes an $8.5 billion project pipeline. The deal leverages Australia’s proposed strategic reserve, which will supply metals like rare earths and lithium that are vulnerable to disruption.

The official said there had been progress, but more work was needed. “It’s not solved,” they added.

Canberra has said it has subsequently received interest from Europe, Japan, South Korea and Singapore.

“The United States is in the posture of calling everyone together, showing leadership, sharing what we have in mind going forward,” said the official. “We’re ready to move with those who feel a similar level of urgency … and others can join as they come to the realization of how serious this is.”

It is noteworthy that China dominates the critical minerals supply chain, refining between 47% and 87% of copper, lithium, cobalt, graphite and rare earths, according to the International Energy Agency. These minerals are used in defense technologies, semiconductors, renewable energy components, batteries and refining processes.