Sun, Feb 11, 2024 page6

• EU, US set to align to counter China’s grip on minerals

  • Bloomberg
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  The US and the EU are in talks to merge a core area of their efforts to engage suppliers of critical minerals in resource-rich nations, seeking to streamline their push against China’s dominance in materials key for future technologies.

  The aim is to combine the EU’s high-level policy approach with the US focus on specific projects, according to people familiar with the discussions.

  Specifically, the move would merge the EU’s critical raw materials club concept with US President Joe Biden’s administration’s flagship Minerals Security Partnership. It comes after the EU delayed plans to launch its own program in Dubai last year at the COP 28 climate summit, the people said.

  

  Trucks loaded with copper on June 17 last year prepare to leave Tenke Fungurume Mine, one of the largest copper and cobalt mines in the world, in southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The corridor to the Angolan port of Lobito has been part-funded by Washington as part of its efforts to help Western companies compete with China for access to African minerals.

  Photo: AFP

  The new initiative, known broadly as a “minerals security partnership forum,” would align outreach efforts to buyers in developed countries and resource-rich nations to cooperate on projects and policies, the people said.

  As part of their broader economic security strategies, Washington and Brussels are seeking to counter China’s domination of the supply chain for so-called critical minerals, a broad term that includes inputs for electrical vehicles and other green energy technologies.

  Key to their combined efforts is working with resource-rich nations to develop standards on investment, trade, research and environmental issues that the US and EU see as an alternative to working with China.

  The allies, who have identified more than a dozen potential projects, have taken on a daunting challenge. The lengthy and expensive process of developing mining or refining projects means Beijing’s dominance will likely continue for decades. US officials have conceded it is impossible to fully replace China.

  US and EU officials aim to reach an agreement later this month and officially launch the project next month, according to one of the people. They will discuss the plan at the Munich Security Conference in Germany next week, a separate person said.

  The EU and the US are discussing how to optimize their efforts in fostering international cooperation on critical raw materials, European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill said in a response to questions, adding that an important aspect of these talks is to find “the best synergies” between the EU’s critical raw materials club and other international activities.

  A US State Department official, who asked not to be identified discussing internal matters, said the two sides believe separate outreach plans to resource-rich nations duplicated efforts and risked creating confusion. They also want to ensure alignment on the broader goal of reducing the West’s dependence on China for the production and processing of critical minerals, the official said.

  The EU was already a part of the US-led minerals security partnership alongside Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, the UK and others, which aims to funnel foreign investment into the green energy sector.

  The EU has signed its own minerals pacts with several countries, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which supplies about 70 percent of the world’s supply of cobalt, and Zambia.
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