The European Union is one step away from signing an agreement with the United States and Japan to strengthen economic and national security by securing the supply chain of critical minerals. According to official statements, a memorandum of cooperation is expected to be signed within the next 30 days, marking a rare instance of trade coordination from the US under Donald Trump’s administration.

The planned agreement envisions identifying and supporting projects in mining, refining, processing, and recycling of critical minerals, aiming to stimulate demand and diversify supply. The central goal is to reduce dependence on China, which currently dominates the global market for many strategic raw materials.

The cooperation will also include discussions on preventing supply chain disruptions, promoting research and innovation, and exchanging information for the creation and management of strategic reserves. To date, the EU has signed 14 significant new trade agreements to diversify supply sources, as part of its effort to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 and strengthen its defense capabilities by 2030.

Minerals such as arsenic, barite, gallium, graphite, tungsten, and rare-earth magnets are considered essential both for developing clean technologies and for producing modern weapons systems.

“We are ready”

EU member states are represented in the negotiations by the Commissioner for Industry, Thierry Breton, shortly after an EU audit report found that the 2030 critical raw material sufficiency targets are far from being met, revealing a high level of dependence on China.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosted the first Ministerial Conference on Critical Minerals at the State Department, attended by over 50 countries. “We are ready to cooperate with any country to identify the specialized role it can play,” he said, emphasizing that even countries without mineral deposits can contribute through processing and refining.

Also present was US Vice President J.D. Vance, who announced Washington’s intention to create a mechanism for setting minimum prices for critical raw materials and proposed the establishment of a trade bloc of allies. The aim is to stabilize prices and strengthen domestic supply chains, highlighting the fragility and concentration of current markets.

Similarly, US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum stated that around 30 countries are interested in joining an alliance for critical minerals trade to limit China’s dominance in the market.

Coordination: Italy and Germany

At the European level, Italy and Germany sent a joint letter to the European Commission reaffirming their commitment to strengthening the critical raw materials sector. The initiative follows commitments made by Ministers Adolfo Urso and Katrin Reiche at the Italy–Germany Summit on January 23.