U.S. access to rare earths and critical minerals is poised to be a hot topic when President Donald Trump meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the coming weeks.
The president is slated to meet with Xi next month, right as the administration wages a mineral-intensive war with Iran. At the same time, the White House is crafting a U.S.-led minerals trading block that excludes Beijing, the largest producer of rare earths needed for most motors and U.S. weapons systems, including fighter jets, radar and lasers.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at an event in Washington on Tuesday said the U.S. is “not looking for a massive confrontation” with Beijing but wants to ensure continued access to Chinese minerals, calling the economic and trade relationship between the two countries “stable.”
“When we think about what to expect for the president’s meeting … we’re looking to maintain that stability,” Greer said at the event hosted by the conservative Hudson Institute. “We’re looking to ensure we can continue to get rare earths from the Chinese.”
