President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signed an $8.5 billion agreement on rare earths and critical minerals at the White House, aiming to stabilize global supplies amid China’s tightening control over the market, Fox News reports. This deal, negotiated over several months, involves both countries investing $1 billion over the next six months in mining and processing projects and setting a minimum price floor for critical minerals. They also agreed to streamline permitting processes to boost production and collaborate on geological mapping, mineral recycling, and preventing critical mineral sales that threaten national security.
Trump expressed confidence that within a year there would be an abundance of such minerals, reducing reliance on China, which currently dominates production and reserves.
“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 told reporters at the event.
According to Fox News, “Albanese said it’s an $8.5 billion pipeline ‘that we have ready to go.’”
The U.S.-Australia partnership intends to counter China’s recent export controls, which restrict sales of rare earths essential for various technologies like smartphones, electric vehicles, and military equipment. This agreement underscores the U.S. strategy to work with allies to challenge China’s dominance in critical mineral supply chains and protect technological and national security interests. The U.S. denounced China’s new export restrictions on rare earth minerals, calling them a danger to the stability of global supply chains.
According to Fox News, “The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reported in January that China’s mines produced 270,000 tons of rare earths in 2024 and the country has 44 million tons of reserves. By comparison, the U.S. produced 45,000 tons and had 1.9 million tons of reserves last year, while Australia produced 13,000 tons and had 5.7 million tons of reserves.”
