[BRUSSELS] The Group of Seven (G7) leading economies are working to shore up supplies of critical minerals as they seek to move away from reliance on China for materials used in everything from mobile phones to wind turbines.
G7 leaders aim to agree to a statement at their meeting in Kananaskis, Canada, to establish an “action plan” to diversify supplies of the vital metals and encourage “immediate and scaled investment” in projects, according to a draft document obtained by Bloomberg. Without mentioning China – which accounts for almost 70 per cent of the world’s production of rare earths – they mentioned the “threat to our economies” of current practices in the sector.
“We have shared national and economic security interests, which depend on access to resilient critical minerals supply chains governed by market principles,” according to the draft, which is still subject to changes before its adoption by leaders. “Non-market policies and practices in the critical minerals sector threaten our ability to acquire many critical minerals, including the rare earth elements needed for magnets, that are vital for industrial production.”
The risks to western economies posed by the reliance on China for key resources used in a wide range of manufacturing industries has been laid bare since April when in retaliation to US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, the Asian nation tightened export controls on seven types of rare earths, having already rolled out similar curbs on other critical materials such as gallium, germanium, graphite and antimony, over the previous two years.
“We recognise the need to work together to increase investment in responsible critical minerals projects within the G7 and around the world,” the draft document said. “Immediate and scaled investment is required to secure future supply chains and ensure promising mining and processing projects overcome barriers such as delays in permitting and approvals processes, market manipulation, and price volatility.”
The statement also encouraged multilateral development banks and private sector lenders “to make further capital available for investment in standards-based critical minerals projects, including through innovative financing”.
The G7 is composed of the US, Canada, Japan, Germany, the UK, France, and Italy, as well as the European Union. BLOOMBERG
