G7 Nations Explore Strategies to Decrease Reliance on Chinese Rare Earths

Reducing Dependence on Chinese Rare Earths

By Maria Martinez and Kanishka Singh

Meeting Overview and Participants

WASHINGTON, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Finance ministers from the G7 and other major economies met in Washington on Monday to discuss ways to reduce dependence on rare earths from China, including setting a price floor and new partnerships to build up alternative supplies, ministers said.

Policy Approaches Discussed

The meeting, convened by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, included finance ministers from G7 members Japan, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and the U.S. as well as officials from Australia, Mexico, South Korea and India.

Challenges and Future Directions

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and representatives from the U.S. Export-Import Bank and JP Morgan also attended, but no joint statement was issued by the meeting's participants.

The Treasury said in a statement that Bessent sought "to discuss solutions to secure and diversify supply chains for critical minerals, especially rare earth elements," and expressed optimism that countries would pursue "prudent de-risking over decoupling" from China.

A U.S. official said on Sunday that Bessent was going to urge participants to step up efforts to reduce reliance on critical minerals from China, which has imposed strict export controls on rare earths, most recently on supplies to Japan.

Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama told reporters on Monday evening that there was "broad agreement on the need to swiftly reduce reliance on China for rare earths."

She said she outlined short-, medium- and long-term policy approaches for G7 and like-minded countries to bolster non-Chinese rare earth supplies.

"These include creating markets based on standards such as respect for labor conditions and human rights, as well as deploying a range of policy tools - support from public financial institutions, tax and financial incentives, trade and tariff measures, quarantine measures and minimum price setting," Katayama said. "I stressed the importance of committing to these measures."

A spokesperson for China's embassy in Washington could not be immediately reached for comment.

'WE HAVE TO BECOME ACTIVE'

The gathering's participating countries and the EU account for 60% of global demand for critical minerals. But China dominates the supply chain, refining between 47% and 87% of copper, lithium, cobalt, graphite and rare earths, according to the International Energy Agency.

The minerals are essential for defense technologies, semiconductors, renewable energy components, batteries and refining processes.

Last week, China banned exports of items destined for Japan's military that have civilian and military uses, including some critical minerals.

German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said discussions at the meeting included a potential rare-earths price floor and partnerships to boost supplies, but noted the talks had just begun with many unresolved issues.

He said rare earths and critical mineral supplies would be a central topic under the French presidency of the Group of Seven advanced economies this year.

However, he warned against an anti-China coalition, stressing that Europe needs to move faster on its own to develop supplies of important raw materials.

"What is very important to me is that we in Europe do not sit back," Klingbeil said. "Neither complaining nor self-pity helps us, we have to become active."

He added that the EU needed more financing at the bloc level, pointing to a new German raw materials fund.

The EU must also move forward urgently on recycling, Klingbeil said, citing its "big potential" for reducing dependencies and broadening supply.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Maria Martinez in Washington and Makiko Yamazaki in Tokyo; Writing by David Lawder; Editing by Himani Sarkar)