The United States and Australia have signed a landmark rare earth minerals deal to counter China's influence.
According to Al Jazeera, the day after China announced a new tightening policy for its rare earth minerals, US President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday, October 20, signed rare earth agreement at the White House.
After signing the deal following China’s tight control on rare earth global supply, the Republican president revealed that the two countries were negotiating this agreement for over four to five months, adding that they will also discuss trade, military equipment and submarines.
Trump said, “We’ve been working on that for quite a while. In about a year from now we’ll have so many critical minerals and rare earths that you won’t know what to do with them. They’ll be worth $2.”
Albanese noted that the $8.5 billion agreement would strengthen their partnership and take their relationship “to the next level.”
“It's not just digging things up and exporting them, but making sure how do we have (investment) across the supply chains with our friends being able to benefit … (it) isn't just digging things up, it's also about processing,” the Australian PM added.
Notably, as per the US Geological Survey data, China has the world’s largest reserves of the rare earths that are critical components of modern technologies, including defense systems, renewable energy sources and electronics.
