WASHINGTON: In a significant strategic move aimed at countering China’s growing global influence, the United States and Australia have finalized a major agreement on rare minerals.
The deal was signed at the White House by President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. During the meeting, the two leaders also announced a massive 8.5 billion dollar project related to this initiative.
To kickstart the project, both the US and Australia will make an initial investment of one billion dollars each within the next six months.
According to news agencies, a key provision of the new agreement is that a minimum price will be set for these critical rare minerals. This step is intended to stabilize the market and reduce dependency on Chinese supply chains.
