The United States and Australia have signed a new agreement on critical minerals, just days after China introduced tighter export restrictions on rare earth elements, magnets, and related products.
US President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese finalised the deal at the White House on Monday.
Both leaders highlighted the partnership as a key step toward strengthening supply chain security and reducing dependence on China.
“We work together very much on rare earths, critical minerals and lots of other things, and we’ve had a very good relationship. We’ve been working on that for quite a while. In about a year from now, we’ll have so much critical minerals and rare earths that you won’t know what to do with them. They’ll be worth $2 billion,” Trump said after the signing ceremony.
Prime Minister Albanese welcomed the development, calling it a ‘major boost’ that would take Australia’s relationship with the United States to the next level.
During the meeting, President Trump also reaffirmed his full support for the AUKUS defence alliance, describing it as a ‘powerful deterrent’ against China and confirming that the initiative would move forward after months of uncertainty.
“It was made a while ago, and nobody did anything about it. It was going too slowly. We do actually have a lot of submarines. We have the best submarines in the world, anywhere in the world, and we’re building a few more currently under construction. Have worked on this long and hard, and we’re starting that process right now, and I think it’s really moving along very rapidly, very well,” Trump stated.
AUKUS Pact to Advance Submarine Cooperation
The AUKUS pact, formed in 2021 between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, involves the delivery of at least three US-built nuclear-powered submarines to Australia in the 2030s, followed by joint production of next-generation submarines in the 2040s.
Looking ahead to his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the upcoming APEC Summit in South Korea, Trump expressed optimism about reaching a mutually beneficial trade understanding.
“We have a very good trade relationship. When we leave South Korea, it could be wrong, but I think we’ll end up with a very strong trade deal,” he asserted.
However, Trump also warned that the US may impose 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese imports from November 1 if Beijing proceeds with its new export restrictions on rare earth materials.
When asked about growing concerns over Taiwan, Trump dismissed the possibility of a Chinese military move, saying, “The United States is the strongest military power in the world by far. It’s not even close…we have the best equipment. We have the best of everything, and nobody’s going to mess with that. And I don’t see that at all with President Xi. I think we’re going to get along very well as it pertains to Taiwan and this. Now, that doesn’t mean it’s not the apple of his eye, because probably it is, but I don’t see anything happening.”
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