Overview
- Energy and environment ministers formally unveiled the Critical Minerals Production Alliance, a Canada-led effort to build transparent, democratic supply chains across the G7.
- Officials outlined tools under consideration including offtake agreements, price floors and strategic stockpiles to counter market manipulation and price volatility.
- President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping agreed to a one-year pause on rare-earth export restrictions, which eases short-term pressure but does not alter long-term dependence.
- Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson said the alliance will move selected mining and processing projects from concept to execution by mobilizing private capital with public de-risking.
- Experts urged concrete traceability and transparency rules to exclude opaque, state-linked firms, citing China’s outsized role in mining and especially refining of rare earths.