Australia will join a meeting of finance ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) advanced economies in Washington on Monday to discuss critical minerals, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has announced.
China Dominates the Critical Minerals Supply
The G7 includes the United States, Britain, Japan, France, Germany, Italy and Canada, as well as the European Union, many of whom rely heavily on rare earths supplies from China.
Last June, the G7 agreed on an action plan to secure supply chains and boost their economies. Bessent said he had been pressing for a separate meeting on the issue since last summer’s summit of G7 leaders, and finance ministers had already held a virtual meeting in December.
India was also invited to attend the meeting, though it is currently unclear if they have accepted the invitation.
Australia signed an agreement with the US in October aimed at countering China’s dominance in critical minerals. The agreement includes a $US8.5 billion ($12.7b) project pipeline and leverages Australia’s proposed strategic reserve, which will supply metals like rare earths and lithium that are vulnerable to disruption. Canberra has since received interest from Europe, Japan, South Korea and Singapore.
According to the International Energy Agency, China dominates the critical minerals supply chain, refining between 47 and 87 per cent of copper, lithium, cobalt, graphite and rare earths. These minerals are used in defence technologies, semiconductors, renewable energy components, batteries and refining processes.
Western countries have sought to reduce their dependence on China’s critical minerals in recent years, particularly given China’s recent moves to impose strict export controls on rare earths.
Monday’s meeting comes after reports that China had begun restricting exports to Japanese companies of rare earths and powerful magnets containing them, as well as banning exports of dual-use items to the Japanese military.
Bessent said China is currently fulfilling its commitments to purchase US soybeans and ship critical minerals to US firms.
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