The Trump administration has inked 27 critical mineral deals with allied countries, a pointed message ahead of President Donald Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping next month, a State Department official said Thursday.
Caleb Orr, the assistant secretary of State for economic, energy and business affairs, told the U.S. Export-Import Bank annual conference in Washington that the agreements have been hammered out since the administration hosted 55 countries in February at “the largest ministerial in the history of the State Department.”
“Emerging out of that ministerial, the State Department has now signed 27 bilateral critical minerals agreements that signed countries up for partnership with the United States across the entire value chain — everything ranging from mining to processing and refining, to financing of key projects, stockpiling, and even regulatory and permitting reform to fast track key projects between the United States and these countries,” Orr said.
The administration is touting efforts to bolster its global mineral alliances ahead of Trump’s meeting with Xi in mid-May, when the president is slated to discuss minerals and rare earths. China is the largest producer of rare earths needed for most motors and U.S. weapons systems, including fighter jets, radar and lasers.
