U.S. trade representative Jamieson Greer has proposed that allies pay a premium on minerals sourced from a proposed group of reliable trading partners, including Europe, to break China’s dominance.
Greer, in an interview with the Financial Times on Wednesday, attributed the Western reliance on China for key minerals to countries’ fixation on business costs.
In February, the U.S. proposed a bloc of countries that would trade critical minerals among themselves at agreed floor prices, ensuring mining and processing projects remain profitable and attractive for investment while reducing reliance on China-dominated supply chains.
To enforce this framework, the plan could involve imposing tariffs or other trade barriers on minerals from outside the group, particularly from China, to prevent low-cost producers from undercutting prices and discouraging Western investment
“There is a premium we pay, and I call it the national security premium, and we will all pay a national security premium to have a secure supply chain,” Greer, who is involved in drafting details of the plan, told the FT.
The proposal, however, has raised concerns among allies about higher costs and potential retaliation from China, underscoring the difficulty of countering …
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