G-7 to discuss critical minerals supply chains to address China’s dominance

The Group of Seven (G-7) members and several other resource-rich nations are arranging a meeting of their finance chiefs in January in Washington to discuss how to secure critical minerals to address concerns about China’s influence on their supply chains, Japanese government sources said on Dec 25.

The G-7 finance chiefs, along with officials from Australia, Chile, India, Mexico and South Korea, agreed at an online meeting earlier in December to “reduce single-source dependencies”, without naming China.

Rare earths are considered indispensable critical minerals for manufacturing products such as motors in electric vehicles and semiconductors.

China is estimated to supply more than 60 per cent of the world’s rare earths output and controls over 90 per cent of refining capacity, leaving global industries vulnerable to the country’s use of export controls as a tool of geopolitical leverage.

As a major supplier of low-cost rare earths, China has been criticised by experts for causing environmental damage and engaging in labour exploitation.

Against that backdrop, the G-7 is looking to build a framework of cooperation with resource-rich nations such as Australia and Chile to stably secure critical minerals without relying on China, the sources said.

Issues to be discussed by the finance ministers are expected to include the creation of international rules for rare earths processing, the sources said.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who has been leading trade talks with China, is said to be especially keen on addressing China’s dominant position.

Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama is expected to attend the meeting scheduled for the week starting on Jan 12, the sources said. KYODO NEWS