Overview
- At a Washington ministerial, Vice President JD Vance proposed a preferential zone using reference prices as floors, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced FORGE to coordinate critical minerals policy and projects.
- The United States said it signed 11 new bilateral agreements, added to 10 inked in recent months, completed negotiations with 17 more countries, and set near‑term action plans with the European Union and Japan within 30 days and with Mexico within 60 days.
- EXIM approved a $10 billion loan for Project Vault, a strategic reserve of critical minerals backed by an additional $2 billion in private capital to stabilize supplies for U.S. manufacturers.
- Delegations from 54–55 countries, including major mining and refining players and the European Union, discussed aligning trade tools to counter concentrated supply chains.
- Officials said coordinated price supports could unlock non‑Chinese mining and processing capacity but may raise near‑term costs and heighten trade frictions as the untested tools are implemented.