United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Friday announced an agreement with the European Union to coordinate trade policies to ensure more resiliency in securing critical minerals.
“The United States and the European Union share a commitment to addressing the non-market policies and practices that have distorted critical minerals supply chains,” Greer said in a statement:
We will explore how trade measures, such as border-adjusted price floors, can strengthen our domestic critical minerals industries and the downstream sectors critical to our industrial competitiveness. I thank EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič for his commitment to securing transatlantic trade in critical minerals.
Maroš Šefčovič, the EU Trade Commissioner, wrote on X, “Critical minerals power every industry shaping the future. The Action Plan with @USTradeRep opens path to a broader trade initiative with like-minded partners — using tools like border-adjusted price floors, standards-based markets, price gap subsidies, offtake agreements.”
The United States-European Union Action Plan for Critical Minerals Supply Chain Resilience states that the EU and the United States would:
- Discuss the feasibility and development of coordinated trade policies and mechanisms, including border-adjusted price floors, standards-based markets, price gap subsidies, or offtake agreements
- Use trade measures to back a resilient critical minerals marketplace
- Create standards for mining, processing, recycling, or trading in critical minerals
- Investment promotion and screening cooperation of critical minerals
- Cooperate on stockpiling critical minerals
President Donald Trump in February launched a critical-minerals stockpile with $12 billion in funding as part of an effort to protect American manufacturers from supply shocks as the administration aims to cut reliance on Chinese rare earths.
Formally known as Project Vault, the project will take $1.67 billion in private capital and $10 billion as part of a loan from the Export-Import Bank to obtain and store minerals for automakers, tech firms, and other companies that need the critical minerals.
“President Trump continues to put American manufacturers and consumers first. Project Vault will ensure that critical minerals are available to keep prices low and supply chains running smoothly — even in times of uncertainty,” Taylor Rogers, the White House assistant press secretary, said in February.
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