Washington, Feb 4 (IANS) The US has urged allies and partners to join a proposed critical minerals trading bloc, as the Trump administration pushed for coordinated action to stabilise markets and secure supply chains.
Vice President J.D. Vance laid out the idea while opening the Critical Minerals Ministerial in Washington.
He said the global market for critical minerals was failing and leaving economies exposed.
“There is no realer thing than critical minerals,” Vance said, calling them essential to modern economies, national defence, and advanced technology.
He said that supply chains were brittle and highly concentrated.
“Prices were erratic. Investment was unreliable. Projects often collapsed after sudden market flooding caused prices to crash.”
Vance said countries represented at the meeting accounted for close to two-thirds of global GDP.
Together, he added, they had the power to reshape the market.
“We’re all on the same team,” the US Vice-President said.
Vance outlined a plan for a preferential trade zone for critical minerals.
“The zone would be protected from external disruptions. It would rely on reference prices set at each stage of production.”
Those prices would act as a floor, enforced through adjustable tariffs, he said.
The goal was to stop market dumping that undercuts domestic producers and drives long-term investors away, Vance added.
“We want members to form a trading block among allies and partners,” he said.
He said stable prices would support private financing and long-term planning. The bloc would also guarantee access to minerals during emergencies.
Vance added: “The initiative aimed to create diverse centres of production. Supply chains would be more resilient. Markets would be more predictable.”
“Our alliances and our friendships can really help one another,” he said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio followed Vance with opening remarks of his own.
He said the issue went to the heart of national security.
“Critical minerals are vital to the devices that we use every single day,” Rubio said.
He added that they power infrastructure, industry, and national defence.
Rubio said President Donald Trump made the issue a priority from his first day in office.
He pointed to an executive order issued in March 2025 to speed permitting, boost domestic mining, and strengthen supply chains at home and abroad.
Rubio cited existing efforts rather than new announcements.
He said the US secured more than $10 billion in critical mineral agreements across five countries in October.
He also pointed to the Pax Silica Summit held in December last year.
He said it launched a partnership to build a resilient silicon supply chain.
Rubio warned that technologies such as artificial intelligence would not advance without reopening mines and rebuilding factories.
He turned to US history to make his case.
Rubio recalled the discovery of rare earth minerals at Mountain Pass in California in 1949.
He said that those resources helped drive the jet age, the space age, and the computer age.
Later, he added that mining was neglected, manufacturing was outsourced and supply chains weakened.
“We woke up and realised we had outsourced our economic security and our very future,” Rubio said.
He compared the moment to the Washington Energy Conference held about 50 years ago.
That meeting led to the creation of the International Energy Agency after oil became a tool of political pressure.
He said Wednesday’s push on critical minerals was driven by similar risks.
“This is not solely an American initiative,” Rubio said.
“This must be an international global initiative with like-minded countries.”
–IANS
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