The Kabul Tribune (KT) — U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Australia, India and several other countries have been invited to join a meeting of finance ministers from the Group of Seven nations next week focused on securing supplies of critical minerals.
Bessent, who is hosting the meeting in Washington on Monday,
said he has pushed for a separate discussion on the issue since last summer’s
G7 leaders’ summit. Finance ministers from the group previously held a virtual
meeting on the topic in December.
India was invited to attend, though Bessent said he was
unsure whether it had accepted the invitation. He did not specify which other
countries were asked to participate.
The G7 consists of the United States, Britain, Japan,
France, Germany, Italy and Canada, along with the European Union. Many of the
bloc’s members are heavily dependent on China for rare earths and other
critical minerals used in defense systems, semiconductors, renewable energy
technologies and batteries.
At their June summit, G7 leaders agreed on an action plan to
strengthen supply chains and reduce economic vulnerabilities tied to critical
minerals.
Australia, a major producer of rare earths and lithium,
signed an agreement with the United States in October aimed at countering
China’s dominance in the sector. The deal includes an $8.5 billion project
pipeline and would draw on Australia’s proposed strategic reserve of key
minerals vulnerable to supply disruptions.
Australian officials have said the agreement has since
attracted interest from Europe, Japan, South Korea and Singapore.
China currently dominates the global critical minerals
supply chain, refining between 47% and 87% of key materials such as copper,
lithium, cobalt, graphite and rare earths, according to the International
Energy Agency.
Western governments have stepped up efforts in recent years
to reduce reliance on China, particularly after Beijing imposed tighter export
controls on some rare earths.
The upcoming meeting follows reports that China has begun
restricting exports of rare earths and specialized magnets to Japanese
companies and banning shipments of certain dual-use materials to Japan’s
military.
Bessent said China continues to meet its commitments to
purchase U.S. soybeans and supply critical minerals to American companies.
