OTTAWA — Canada quietly offered its G7 partners first dibs on its critical minerals in a behind-the-scenes push leading to this week’s leaders’ summit, where countering China’s dominance is a preoccupation.
“I’m writing to offer your government priority access to Canada’s critical minerals stockpile,” Canada’s Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson wrote in a letter last month to his G7 counterparts, a copy of which was viewed by POLITICO.
In his pitch, Hodgson noted that Canada launched its “stockpiling regime” last fall, positioning scandium and graphite as key minerals. He noted Canada’s announcement of a critical mineral sovereign fund earlier this year would “expand our stockpile in the near term to include antimony, cobalt, gallium, germanium, and tungsten.”
Securing reliable critical minerals supply chains to counter China’s global dominance will be a major focus of G7 leaders, especially U.S. President Donald Trump, at their summit in Évian-les-Bains, France. Hodgson, who is Prime Minister Mark Carney’s energy point man, has positioned Canada’s vast critical minerals reserves as key to the country’s goal of becoming an energy superpower as it tries to bolster its economy against Trump’s economic aggression.
