"Today the United States, together with our partners and allies, has set out to reshape the global market for critical minerals and rare earths," the State Department said in a press release following the event, hosted in Washington by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President JD Vance, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and other senior U.S. officials.
The initiative covers a range of strategic resources, including rare earth elements (REEs), a group of 17 minerals essential to technologies shaping the future, from artificial intelligence and robotics to missile guidance systems.
China accounts for roughly two-thirds of rare-earth output and about 90 percent of processing, a concentration viewed as a national security risk by the U.S. and its allies. Rare earths in particular have become a major foreign policy focus for President Donald Trump's administration, including in negotiations on a potential ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia.
