The Trump administration on Wednesday announced agreements to work with Mexico, the European Union and Japan to develop critical minerals supply chains, as it hosts more than 50 countries in Washington in a push to reduce global reliance on China for the metals.
The deals — unveiled by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative — lay out plans to coordinate critical minerals trade, including work on border-adjusted price floors for certain imports and the identification of priority minerals.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer framed the announcements as part of a broader push to align “like-minded partners” around a shared strategy to address what the administration calls global market distortions driven by Chinese overcapacity, according to a press release. “Today’s announcement is an important signal that the world’s largest market-oriented economies are committed to developing a new paradigm for preferential trade in critical minerals,” Greer said.
As part of the rollout, Washington and Mexico announced a bilateral critical minerals “action plan” that assigns responsibility to USTR and Mexico’s Economy Ministry and sets a 60-day window to advance an initial phase of work. In a separate statement, Greer suggested the agreement is a positive signal ahead of the high-stakes six-year review of U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which begins in July. They also call for consultations on whether those measures could be incorporated into binding trade agreements with additional partners, according to USTR documents.
