Washington, Jan. 13, 2026 – Finance ministers from the Group of Seven countries agreed Monday to accelerate the reduction of their countries’ overreliance on China for critical minerals.
Following a meeting in Washington, also attended by representatives from Australia, India, Mexico and South Korea, Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama disclosed the agreement and said they will explore policy measures to establish new supply chains for critical minerals.
The U.S. Treasury Department said the participants “expressed a strong, shared desire to quickly address key vulnerabilities in critical minerals supply chains” throughout the course of discussions.
According to the department, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent voiced optimism that they will pursue “prudent derisking over decoupling, and that they understand well the need to remedy current deficiencies in critical minerals supply chains.”
The meeting, hosted by Bessent and joined by U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, took place amid China’s use of its dominance in the processing of rare earth minerals to exert diplomatic and economic leverage.
China last week tightened controls on exports to Japan of dual-use items that have both civilian and military applications, with rare earths possibly included.
Beijing has been taking aim at Tokyo since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks in parliament in November suggesting an attack on Taiwan could trigger a response by Japan’s defense forces.
Katayama told reporters that she had explained Japan’s position on the Chinese export controls to her counterparts and imparted to them the country’s know-how on cutting dependence on China for rare earths to nearly 60 percent from about 90 percent following an export ban imposed by Beijing in 2010 over a territorial dispute.
The issues discussed Monday included the importance of setting minimum prices and creating a market with standards for labor and human rights, Katayama and Japanese officials said, on the back of worries that China has supplied inexpensive rare earths by taking advantage of low wages and poor working conditions.
Noting that the participating countries account for more than 60 percent of global rare earth demand, she suggested that stronger cooperation among them would have a positive impact on supply chains.
China mines around 70 percent of the world’s rare earths, which are vital to the manufacturing of high-tech and defense products, and refines about 90 percent of the raw materials.
Last year, China also restricted exports of rare earths to the United States, in an apparent attempt to gain an edge in trade negotiations with the administration of President Donald Trump. (Africanews)
