The United States is hosting ministers from dozens of countries for a critical minerals conference in Washington, DC, this week.

Officials are seeking to strengthen and diversify their nations’ stockpiles of critical minerals, which are essential for the defence industry and for the development of artificial intelligence.

High on the agenda is the question of setting a minimum price for critical minerals – something many countries are pushing for. However, the US is reported to be backing away from this suggestion.

On Monday, US President Donald Trump announced the launch of a strategic minerals stockpile for the US called Project Vault. It will be funded by $2bn of private capital along with a $10bn loan from the US Export-Import Bank.

What is the Critical Minerals Ministerial?

The meeting is the first of the new Critical Minerals Ministerial, a US initiative to build alliances aimed at countering China’s control over critical mineral supply chains around the world.

The main meeting of representatives takes place on Wednesday.

Currently, China controls most of the world’s rare earth minerals, including metals that are necessary for the manufacture of many technological items, from smartphones to fighter jets. China has 60 percent of these minerals and processes 90 percent of the world’s supply.

According to the US Department of State, the ministerial is being hosted by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and is taking place at the State Department building close to the White House.

Who is attending?

The US will host delegations from more than 50 countries, according to the State Department.

This includes representatives from the Group of Seven countries – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the US – as well as from the European Union, Australia and New Zealand.

On Tuesday, Rubio met with Cho Hyun, the foreign minister of South Korea on the sidelines of the ministerial. In an X post, Rubio wrote that he and Cho discussed recent commitments by Seoul to increase “investments to rebuild critical US industries and the importance of diversifying and securing critical mineral supply chains to bolster our economic and national security”.

Also on Tuesday, Rubio met Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar to discuss cooperation over critical minerals.

What are critical minerals and why do they matter?

They are nonfuel minerals used to manufacture batteries, clocks, wiring, military hardware and semiconductors among other technological products.

The US describes them as “essential to the economic or national security of the US” and having “a supply chain vulnerable to disruption”.

Nickel, cobalt, lithium, aluminium and zinc are among the best-known critical minerals. For 12 critical minerals, the US relies entirely on imports. For 29 additional critical minerals, the US imports at least half of what it needs.

Critical minerals also include 17 rare earth elements – 15 lanthanides (metallic elements) on the periodic table, scandium and yttrium. China has deposits of 12 of these.

Rare earth metals have special magnetic properties and are necessary for the production of permanent magnets, used for industrial automation, electric vehicle motors, renewable energy generators, electronics and many medical devices.

Because of China’s near-total control of rare earth metals, Western nations have said they worry about their access to these minerals. Currently, Europe’s supply of permanent magnets, for example, comes almost entirely from China.

The processing costs for rare earths are high, and mining them involves heavy use of chemicals that generate toxic waste harmful to the environment.

Which country dominates critical minerals now?

According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), global rare earth reserves were estimated at about 110 million tonnes as of 2024.

China has the most rare earth metals and a “near monopoly”, the Center for Strategic and International Studies reported in 2024.

It has also filed thousands of patents for the processing technologies it has developed.

Last year, China began restricting exports of the 12 rare earth metals it possesses. In April, China imposed restrictions on exports for seven rare earth minerals. Then in October, it added the five remaining metals to the list.

In late October, Trump reached a trade truce with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea. China agreed to put the restrictions for the five final metals on hold for one year while the two countries continue trade negotiations. In return, Trump dropped his threat of 100 percent tariffs on Chinese goods.

What are the key issues on the meeting’s agenda?

On Wednesday, US Vice President JD Vance, Rubio, Senior Director for Global Supply Chains David Copley and Undersecretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg will deliver opening remarks.

The countries attending the conference will discuss setting a minerals price floor – a minimum price for a mineral or group of minerals. Those calling for a minimum price to be set said it would reduce risks for investors, keep supplies coming from a larger number of places and prevent large players from leveraging cheap prices to exclude smaller competitors.

The Trump administration, however, is stepping back from plans to guarantee such a minimum price, according to the Reuters news agency, which quoted unnamed sources for its report. Australian mining stocks dropped as a result.

Australia, which also has a large supply of rare earth metals, is among those countries pushing hard for a price floor as it positions itself as an alternative to China by investing heavily in developing its own processing capacity.

The ministerial will also be an opportunity for the US to get other countries to fall into line over its own policies for critical minerals, analysts said.

“The US is likely to push partner countries to sign minerals deals by which US companies get preferential or at least access to mineral deposits,” Raphael Deberdt, a postdoctoral fellow at the Copenhagen Business School, told Al Jazeera.

Deberdt, who researches critical minerals, explained that while the US has access to these deposits, Washington will also want to invest in those countries to expand production of specific minerals, particularly rare earth elements, cobalt, nickel and graphite.

“The US is also likely to work on a reshuffling of critical minerals supply chains to orient processing towards its own territory and the territories of allied nations,” Deberdt said.

“However, this is still prospective as the US has little processing capabilities and remains far from Chinese dominance.”

He said the Washington conference, therefore, is more likely to be about making US policy on critical minerals visible rather than achieving “real advances in the onshoring, reshoring or friend-shoring of critical minerals”.

Which other countries are developing rare earth capacity?

Australia has the world’s fourth largest rare earth reserves, including metals such as neodymium, which is used to make magnets in wind turbines.

In October, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Trump signed a critical minerals agreement that will give the US access to Australian rare earth minerals in return for investment.

But while Australia’s rare earth reserves are large, they are still only one-seventh the size of China’s, according to the USGS. That’s why experts said the US will likely try to court other countries for supplies as well.

Greenland, which Trump has said he wants to take over and make part of the US, is also rich in critical minerals, including rare earth metals. Greenland has limited mining, however, as the practice is largely opposed by Indigenous Inuit residents.

Are countries stockpiling their own critical minerals?

Yes, as well as the US Project Vault, other countries are stockpiling critical minerals to protect themselves from supply chain disruptions in response to China’s dominance of the market.

In March 2020, Japan introduced an international resource strategy that reinforced a stockpiling system for its rare earth minerals.

Similarly, South Korea maintains a longstanding stockpile of critical minerals managed by the state-run Korea Mine Rehabilitation and Mineral Resources Corporation.

In December, the European Commission adopted the RESourceEU Action Plan to secure the EU’s critical minerals supply. The commission said it will also establish a European Critical Raw Materials Centre early this year to diversify supply chains, including through stockpiling.

In January, Albanese’s government announced new details of Australia’s $1.2bn Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve to secure the supply of key critical minerals.