Australia, US Will Develop Rare Earths, Protect Sector From China
President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signed a critical minerals development framework that pledges investment in the sector, both mining and processing.
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At the White House Oct. 20, Trump said the countries had negotiated the agreement over more than four months.
Trump received several questions from Australian journalists about the reciprocal tariffs on Australia -- set at 10%, since Australia imports more American goods than it exports goods to the U.S.
One said, "Why slap heavy tariffs on a friend and ally?"
Trump replied, "Actually the tariffs are very light."
The framework they signed seems to suggest that a group of countries will erect trade barriers to Chinese rare earths and critical minerals. China dominates in the processing of rare earths, and has weaponized that bottleneck repeatedly.
The framework says that the U.S. and Australia "will work to protect their respective domestic critical minerals and rare earths markets from non-market policies and unfair trade practices, including through the adoption of standards-based systems in which those who adopt the standards can trade freely and within a pricing framework including price floors or similar measures. The Participants will also work with international partners to develop a future global framework to deal with associated international pricing challenges."