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Can US-led bloc ease China’s ‘vice-like grip’ on rare earths?
Washington is working with its allies to accelerate projects in rare earths and diversify their supply in response to China’s export curbs
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A US-led meeting with its allies to reduce the global reliance on rare earths from China was an “easy sell”, even as analysts warn that such an ambitious goal would depend on their long-term investment commitments and ability to narrow differences over national policy.
On Monday, the US hosted a meeting in Washington with G7 finance ministers and other allies, including Australia, India, South Korea and the EU, to address vulnerabilities in the rare earth supply chain, as they close ranks against what they perceive as coercive Chinese control of the export of the critical minerals.
Convened by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the talks were reportedly initiated following China’s announcement in October on such curbs.
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The agenda items included proposals to set price floors to make non-Chinese rare earth projects more viable and explore new partnerships for alternative supplies.
“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 need to move faster,” an official associated with the event said.
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Under Beijing’s export controls for rare earths, as well as related Chinese technologies, foreign firms have to acquire licenses for exports of these critical minerals.
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