Overview
- Finance ministers met on January 12 in Washington under U.S. Treasury Secretary Benesnt, with G7 members joined by Australia, Mexico, India and South Korea.
- Participants agreed to act quickly to reinforce rare-earth supply chains, and Benesnt said on X they confirmed a strong shared will to address vulnerabilities.
- Japan’s finance minister Satsuki Katayama said partners supported moving with speed to lower dependence and she conveyed Japan’s protest seeking withdrawal of China’s new curbs.
- The joint stance did not outline specific measures or timelines, with further talks expected on tools such as minimum price guarantees and market standards including labor conditions.
- China’s foreign ministry said its position on maintaining stable critical-mineral supply chains is unchanged and rejected using rare earths for economic coercion.