On Friday, 24 April, the European Union and the United States signed a strategic partnership on critical minerals. The European Commission had received the green light to negotiate a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on 17 April (see EUROPE 13851/7).
European Commissioner for Trade Maroš Šefčovič and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ratified this strategic partnership in Washington so as to ensure secure and sustainable supply chains between the two blocs. The partnership aims to strengthen cooperation across the entire supply chain, including the extraction, processing, refining, and even recycling of critical minerals.
At the same time, Mr Šefčovič and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer presented an action plan paving the way for several trade initiatives promoting coordinated action at the international level. They are also expected to develop common production standards for mining, processing, and recycling and to implement mechanisms to respond to market disruptions quickly.
This coordination effort is essential to securing supply for key sectors, such as the defence industry and the production of electric batteries. It is also a way—for both economies—to counter China’s dominance. The latter has considerable mining resources and notably controls 90% of the world’s rare earth supply chain.
As reported by the AFP, Marco Rubio declared during the signing of the memorandum of understanding, “The over-concentration of these resources—and the fact that they’re dominated by one or two places—is an unacceptable risk.”
Both parties will continue this dialogue on strategic minerals in the context of the G7 and the Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement (FORGE).
To consult the documents: https://aeur.eu/f/lp1 and https://aeur.eu/f/lp2 (Original version in French by Juliette Verdes)