{"id":1403795,"date":"2026-02-04T07:21:54","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T12:21:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/?p=1403795&#038;preview=true&#038;preview_id=1403795"},"modified":"2026-02-04T20:06:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T01:06:57","slug":"trump-rare-earths-rebuild-supply","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/2026\/02\/04\/trump-rare-earths-rebuild-supply\/","title":{"rendered":"US wants to create a critical minerals trading bloc with its allies to counter China"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By DIDI TANG, JOSH FUNK and MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The Trump administration announced Wednesday that it wants to create a critical minerals trading bloc with its allies and partners, using tariffs to maintain minimum prices and defend against\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trade-minerals-rare-china-trump-5f7c9b9360cfb3cce702649e0c568a0e\">China\u2019s stranglehold<\/a>\u00a0on the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/rare-earths-trump-tariffs-china-trade-war-effd6a7ec64b5830df9d3c76ab9b607a\">key elements needed<\/a> for everything from fighter jets to smartphones.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"related left\"><h2 class=\"widget-title\" data-curated-ids=\"\" data-relation-type=\"automatic-primary-section\">Related Articles<\/h2><ul><li>\n\t\t\t<a class=\"article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/2026\/02\/08\/housing-costs-are-crippling-many-americans-heres-how-the-two-parties-propose-to-fix-that\/\" title=\"Housing costs are crippling many Americans. Here\u2019s how the two parties propose to fix that\">\n\t\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"dfm-title metered\">\n\t\t\tHousing costs are crippling many Americans. Here\u2019s how the two parties propose to fix that\t\t<\/span>\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\n\t\n<\/li><li>\n\t\t\t<a class=\"article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/2026\/02\/07\/vaccine-court-overhaul\/\" title=\"Her son\u2019s injury never got its day in vaccine court. Their lawyer is now advising RFK Jr. on its overhaul\">\n\t\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"dfm-title metered\">\n\t\t\tHer son\u2019s injury never got its day in vaccine court. Their lawyer is now advising RFK Jr. on its overhaul\t\t<\/span>\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\n\t\n<\/li><li>\n\t\t\t<a class=\"article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/2026\/02\/06\/border-family-separation\/\" title=\"Judge orders Trump administration to bring back 3 families deported to Honduras, other countries\">\n\t\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"dfm-title metered\">\n\t\t\tJudge orders Trump administration to bring back 3 families deported to Honduras, other countries\t\t<\/span>\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\n\t\n<\/li><li>\n\t\t\t<a class=\"article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/2026\/02\/06\/epstein-house-unredacted-files\/\" title=\"Justice Department will allow lawmakers to see unredacted versions of released Epstein files\">\n\t\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"dfm-title metered\">\n\t\t\tJustice Department will allow lawmakers to see unredacted versions of released Epstein files\t\t<\/span>\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\n\t\n<\/li><li>\n\t\t\t<a class=\"article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/2026\/02\/06\/us-social-service-funds\/\" title=\"Feds can\u2019t withhold social service funds from 5 Democratic states amid fraud claims, judge rules\">\n\t\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"dfm-title metered\">\n\t\t\tFeds can\u2019t withhold social service funds from 5 Democratic states amid fraud claims, judge rules\t\t<\/span>\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\n\t\n<\/li><\/ul><\/aside>\n<p>Vice President JD Vance said the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-china-united-states-trade-war-05f263e824a3e83fa0cc8158f834493a\">U.S.-China trade war<\/a>\u00a0over the past year exposed how dependent most countries are on the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/china-earths-exports-trump-dad99d532f858f04d750d0b8c50e5ed6\">critical minerals that Beijing largely dominates<\/a>, so collective action is needed now to give the West self-reliance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe want members to form a trading bloc among allies and partners, one that guarantees American access to American industrial might while also expanding production across the entire zone,\u201d Vance said at the opening of a meeting that Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosted with officials from several dozen European, Asian and African nations.<\/p>\n<p>The Republican administration is making bold moves to shore up supplies of critical minerals needed for electric vehicles, missiles and other high-tech products after China choked off their flow in response to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/china-united-states-tariffs-trump-trade-3a1cb2941aa7387f25befe86fbe1f1c0\">President Donald Trump\u2019s sweeping tariffs<\/a>\u00a0last year. While the two global powers reached a truce to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-xi-china-trade-war-4c19a752c97828246c08f60f0dc54c79\">pull back on the high import taxes<\/a>\u00a0and stepped-up rare earth restrictions, China\u2019s limits remain tighter than they were before Trump took office.<\/p>\n<p>The critical minerals meeting comes at a time of significant tensions between Washington and major allies over President Donald Trump\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/denmark-greenland-trump-arctic-security-nato-d74c0ffcf1db904a2a9c3b2c5c5b8d03\">territorial ambitions, including Greenland<\/a>, and his\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/venezuela-us-explosions-caracas-ca712a67aaefc30b1831f5bf0b50665e\">moves to exert control over Venezuela<\/a>\u00a0and other nations. His bellicose and insulting\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/denmark-greenland-trump-bessent-davos-ab05ebfaae6a413d1f8125cb9726a4c5\">rhetoric directed at U.S. partners<\/a>\u00a0has led to frustration and anger.<\/p>\n<p>The conference, however, is an indication that the United States is seeking to build relationships when it comes to issues it deems key national security priorities.<\/p>\n<p>While major allies like France and the United Kingdom attended the meeting in Washington, Greenland and Denmark, the NATO ally with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-rubio-greenland-denmark-technical-talks-7e2180f90bc6e7a6005a6895a8164a00\">oversight of the mineral-rich Arctic island<\/a>, did not.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"mb-0 pb-2 ap-font-bold\">A new approach to countering China on critical minerals<\/h4>\n<p>Vance said some countries have signed on to the trading bloc, which is designed to ensure stable prices and will provide members access to financing and the critical minerals. Administration officials said the plan will help the West move beyond complaining about the problem of access to critical minerals to actually solving it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone here has a role to play, and that\u2019s why we\u2019re so grateful for you coming and being a part of this gathering that I hope will lead to not just more gatherings, but action,\u201d Rubio said.<\/p>\n<p>Vance said that for too long, China has used the tactic of unloading materials at cheap prices to undermine potential competitors, then ratcheting up prices later after keeping new mines from being built in other countries.<\/p>\n<p>Prices within the preferential trade zone will remain consistent over time, the vice president said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur goal within that zone is to create diverse centers of production, stable investment conditions and supply chains that are immune to the kind of external disruptions that we\u2019ve already talked about,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>To make the new trading group work, it will be important to have ways to keep countries from buying cheap Chinese materials on the side and to encourage companies from getting the critical minerals they need from China, said Ian Lange, an economics professor who focuses on rare earths at the Colorado School of Mines.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet\u2019s just say it\u2019s standard economics or standard behavior. If I can cheat and get away with it, I will,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>At least for defense contractors, Lange said the Pentagon can enforce where those companies get their critical minerals, but it may be harder with electric vehicle makers and other manufacturers.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"mb-0 pb-2 ap-font-bold\">US turns to a strategic stockpile and investments<\/h4>\n<p>Trump this week also announced Project Vault, a plan for a strategic U.S.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-rare-earths-china-tariffs-reserve-8238230f2bd740af3d2668e1b56155b0\">stockpile of rare earth elements<\/a>\u00a0to be funded with a $10 billion loan from the U.S. Export-Import Bank and nearly $1.67 billion in private capital.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, the government recently made its fourth direct investment in an American critical minerals producer,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/usa-rare-earth-trump-commerce-4c012d70ad172f12d9e3aca24508e766\">extending $1.6 billion to USA Rare Earth<\/a>\u00a0in exchange for stock and a repayment deal. The Pentagon has\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/rare-earths-critical-minerals-trump-china-tariffs-edf8ff79ec97d7245f64afa9f9ac713a\">shelled out nearly $5 billion<\/a>\u00a0over the past year to spur mining.<\/p>\n<p>The administration has prioritized the moves because China controls 70% of the world\u2019s rare earths mining and 90% of the processing. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by phone Wednesday, including about trade. A social media post from Trump did not specifically mention critical minerals.<\/p>\n<p>Heidi Crebo-Rediker, a senior fellow in the Center for Geoeconomic Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the meeting was \u201cthe most ambitious multilateral gathering of the Trump administration.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe rocks are where the rocks are, so when it comes to securing supply chains for both defense and commercial industries, we need trusted partners,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Japan\u2019s minister of state for foreign affairs, Iwao Horii, said Tokyo was fully on board with the U.S. initiative and would work with as many countries as possible to ensure its success.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCritical minerals and (their) stable supply is indispensable to the sustainable development of the global economy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"mb-0 pb-2 ap-font-bold\">Agreements and legislation move forward<\/h4>\n<p>The European Union and Japan together as well as Mexico announced agreements to work with the United States to develop coordinated trade policies and price floors to support the development of a critical minerals supply chain outside of China. The countries said they would develop an agreement about what steps they will take and explore ways to expand the effort to include additional like-minded nations.<\/p>\n<p>Also Wednesday, the Republican-controlled House approved a bill to accelerate mining on federal land despite objections from Democrats and conservation groups that it amounted to a blank check to foreign-owned mining corporations.<\/p>\n<p>The bill, which next heads to the Senate, would codify Trump\u2019s executive orders to boost domestic mining and processing of minerals important to energy, defense and other applications.<\/p>\n<p><em>Associated Press writer Matthew Daly contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Critical minerals are needed for everything from jet engines to smartphones. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":1403886,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7867,22,27],"tags":[7601],"feature":[],"location":[],"type-of-work":[7197],"coauthors":[799],"class_list":["post-1403795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-politics","category-news","category-politics","tag-network","type-of-work-news"],"post_status":"","edit_last":0,"edit_lock":0,"highlights":"","original_byline":"","original_canonical":"","original_category":"","original_email":"","original_id":0,"original_pubdate":"","original_source":"","primary_section":"7867","primary_tag":0,"print_workflow_body":"","print_workflow_exported_ts":"","print_workflow_exported_username":"","print_workflow_shapes":"","print_workflow_side":"","really_short_title":"","short_title":"","syndication_source":{"canonical":"https:\/\/www.twincities.com\/2026\/02\/04\/trump-rare-earths-rebuild-supply","id":"cG9zdDoyNDQ1MjEx","siteName":"Sharing Dash","syndicationSourceStack":[{"canonical":"https:\/\/www.twincities.com\/2026\/02\/04\/trump-rare-earths-rebuild-supply","id":"cG9zdDoyNDQ1MjEx","siteName":"Sharing Dash","sourceUrl":"https:\/\/sharingdash.medianewsgroup.com"}],"source_url":"https:\/\/sharingdash.medianewsgroup.com"},"market_neutral_title":"","social_title":"","dfm_hub_post_id":0,"paywall_level":"","featured_media_content":{"content_type":"image","content":{"id":1403886,"title":"AP26035552990053","filename":"AP26035552990053.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AP26035552990053.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/2026\/02\/04\/trump-rare-earths-rebuild-supply\/attachment\/1403886\/","alt":"","author":"14","description":"","caption":"Vice President JD Vance speaks at the Critical Minerals Ministerial meeting at the State Department, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026 in Washington. 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