CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - U.S. President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have signed a landmark Critical Minerals Framework deal as the Trump administration's apparent alternative to counter China's dominance of the rare earths and other critical minerals market.
China has 70 percent share of rare earths mining globally and 90 percent of the materials are processed in that country. These are crucial raw materials in the manufacturing of defense equipment, computer chips and automobiles.
Major American companies are among China's global clients, making them vulnerable this year. Beijing has limited supplies to them recently in a tit-for-tat measure against heavy tariffs imposed by the U.S. government.
The U.S. and Australian governments intend to invest more than $3 billion together in critical mineral projects in the next six months, with recoverable resources in the projects estimated to be worth $53 billion.
The Export-Import Bank of the United States is issuing seven Letters of Interest for more than $2.2 billion in financing, unlocking up to $5 billion of total investment, to advance critical minerals and supply-chain security projects between the two countries.
The U.S. Department of Defense will invest in the construction of a 100 metric ton-per-year advanced gallium refinery in Western Australia, further advancing self-reliance in critical minerals processing, the White House said.
Australia committed to enhanced burden sharing and is making new defense investments that will bolster the U.S.-Australia alliance, it added.
Australia agreed to purchase $1.2 billion in Anduril unmanned underwater vehicles and take delivery of the first tranche of Apache helicopters in a separate $2.6 billion deal.
Since February, Australia has contributed $1 billion to the U.S. Government to expand and modernize the U.S. submarine industrial base, with another $1 billion by the end of the year. 'Together, we are strengthening the Australia - United Kingdom - United States (AUKUS) trilateral security partnership to meet the challenges of tomorrow,' the White House said.
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