One of the United States’ biggest trade partners is taking a wait-and-see approach to the White House’s pitch for a critical minerals trading bloc.
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said on Wednesday following the State Department’s Critical Minerals Ministerial in Washington that she needs more details about the Trump administration’s plan to create a “preferential trade zone” among allies, using price floors to collectively buffer the minerals sector from shocks and manipulation.
“Canada’s only signing deals that are favorable to our economic and our national security interest; we’re not looking to sign sector-by-sector deals,” Anand said during an interview with CBC News. “There are specific aspects of the U.S. initiative, particularly the price floor, that we need to understand better.”
Vice President JD Vance called on more than 50 allies to join a U.S.-led “preferential trade zone for critical minerals protected from external disruptions through enforceable price floors.” Some countries — Japan, the European Union, Mexico and Britain — have already inked agreements directly with the U.S. to work on mineral security.
