<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/usa" rel="" target="" title="US"><span>US</span></a><span> Vice President </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/jd-vance" rel="" target="" title="JD Vance"><span>JD Vance</span></a><span> on Wednesday unveiled plans to marshal allies into a preferential trade bloc for critical minerals, proposing co-ordinated price floors as Washington escalates efforts to loosen China's grip on materials crucial to advanced manufacturing.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>China has wielded its chokehold on the processing of many minerals as geo-economic leverage, at times curbing exports, suppressing prices and undercutting other countries' ability to diversify sources of the materials used to make semiconductors, electric vehicles and advanced weapons.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We want to eliminate that problem of people flooding into our markets with cheap critical minerals to undercut our domestic manufacturers," Vance told a gathering of visiting ministers in Washington without mentioning China.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/nancy-guthrie-disappearance-sheriff-probes-possible-ransom-notes-while-pacemaker-data-could-speak-to-timeline/d55d98d8-ee9a-4c93-8aaf-d6b382e6e4bf"><strong><span>Sheriff probes possible ransom notes in disappearance of US TV host's mum</span></strong></a><strong></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We will establish reference prices for critical minerals at each stage of production, ... and for members of the preferential zone, these reference prices will operate as a floor maintained through adjustable tariffs to uphold pricing integrity," Vance said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>AUSTRALIA AMONG 55 COUNTRIES AT MEETING</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>President Donald Trump's administration has stepped up efforts to secure US supplies of critical minerals after China rattled senior officials and global markets last year by withholding rare earths required by American automakers and other industrial manufacturers.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/critical-minerals-trade-bloc-us-proposes-bloc-aimed-at-countering-china-as-us-europe-japan-announce-supply-chain-partnership/da5f7222-b450-424e-8bf6-550e28411219" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump on Monday launched a US strategic stockpile of critical minerals, called Project Vault, backed by $US10 billion in seed funding from the US Export-Import Bank and $US2 billion in private funding.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Secretary of State Marco Rubio said 55 countries attended the talks in Washington, among them South Korea, India, Thailand, Japan, Germany, Australia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, all with varying refining or mining capabilities.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The minerals are "heavily concentrated in the hands of one country," Rubio said, without referencing China, adding that the situation had become a "tool of leverage in geopolitics."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>US, EU AND JAPAN ANNOUNCE CRITICAL MINERAL SUPPLY CHAIN PARTNERSHIP</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The US, European Union and Japan announced on Wednesday a strategic partnership to shore up the resilience of supply chains for critical minerals now dominated by China, eyeing a broader trade deal with like-minded partners that could include border-adjusted price floors and price-gap subsidies.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In a joint statement, they said the US and the EU committed to concluding a memorandum of understanding on critical minerals within a tight deadline of 30 days.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>MINERAL COMPANY SHARES DROP</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A multi-country effort to establish price floors of critical minerals is the Trump administration's latest move to exert control over private business. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The White House has taken stakes in several mineral companies as well as chipmaker Intel INTC.O and has negotiated deals with drugmakers for lower prices.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Shares of mineral companies fell on news of the trade bloc. MP Materials MP.N lost 2.8 per cent, Critical Metals CRML.O dropped 7.7 per cent, NioCorp Developments NB.O was down 2.8 per cent, and USA Rare Earth USAR.O lost 6.6 per cent in morning trading in New York.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>By guaranteeing minimum prices through co-ordinated trade rules, Washington hopes to unlock private investment in mining and processing projects that have struggled to compete with cheaper Chinese supply.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The approach could reshape global supply chains for materials essential to electric vehicles, semi-conductors and defence systems, while raising costs for manufacturers in the short term and escalating trade tensions with Beijing.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"China has long played an important and constructive role in keeping the global industrial and supply chains of critical minerals safe and stable and is willing to continue to make active efforts in this regard," China's embassy in Washington told Reuters when asked about the meeting.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>China's expanded export controls on rare earths last year caused production delays and shutdowns for auto manufacturers in Europe and the US, and a China-generated glut of lithium has stalled plans to expand production in the US.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Such dependencies have unnerved Washington and its partners, which have struggled for years to implement policies to stand up durable domestic mining and processing alternatives for lithium, nickel, rare earths and other critical minerals.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump, who is expected to visit China in April, posted on Truth Social that he had an "excellent" call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday morning to discuss a range of trade and security issues from soybeans to Iran, but he made no mention of minerals.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>China's leverage over critical minerals was on full display in October when Trump agreed to trim tariffs on Chinese goods in exchange for Beijing's pledge to hold off on stricter restrictions on rare earths exports.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Wednesday's gathering underscores a broader US push to work with partners to counter China's dominance in the sector by coordinating policy tools at a time when Trump has angered allies with his sweeping "America First" tariff policies.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I think this is a recognition by the United States that it must act in concert with others to reduce its vulnerability in areas where China has supply dominance," said Scott Kennedy, who leads the Chinese business and economics program at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer was set to provide details on the price floor later on Wednesday to meeting participants.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said on Tuesday that 11 more countries would be named to a critical minerals trade club this week, joining the US, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Thailand. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He said 20 more countries showed "strong interest" in joining the coalition.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><em><span>NEVER MISS A STORY:</span></em></strong><span> </span><strong><em><span>Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.</span></em></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><ul><li><strong><em><span>Download the 9NEWS App here via</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Apple</span></em></strong></a><span> </span><strong><em><span>and</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Google 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