Business & Economics
US Unveils Critical Minerals Preferential Trade Zone Plan at 55-Nation Ministerial
At a 4–5 Feb 2026 State Department summit, Vice-President JD Vance proposed a price-floor-backed preferential trade bloc for critical minerals, signaling Washington’s first multilateral mechanism to curb China’s supply dominance.
Focusing Facts
- Vance announced enforceable price floors maintained by adjustable tariffs at the inaugural Critical Minerals Ministerial in Washington on 4 Feb 2026, attended by representatives of 55 countries (≈⅔ of global GDP).
- Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said 11 countries had already signed the zone’s framework and 20 more expressed active interest.
- The United States, European Union, and Japan agreed to finalize an MOU within 30 days to co-finance mining, refining, processing and recycling projects tied to the bloc.
Context
Commodities have long been wielded as geopolitical levers—from the 1939 US stockpile program aiming to secure rubber and tin, to OPEC’s 1973 oil embargo that re-priced energy politics for decades. Vance’s proposal echoes those episodes: a cartel-like effort by consumers/producers to manage prices and insulate supply, but directed this time at lithium, cobalt and rare earths—the lifeblood of AI chips and electrification. It reflects two converging megatrends: (1) de-globalisation and friend-shoring as states internalise lessons from COVID-19 and the 2025 Chinese export curbs; and (2) the shift from hydrocarbons to mineral-intensive technologies, where control of processing, not wells, confers power. If the bloc matures into a rules-bearing institution, it could rewrite trade norms much as the 1947 GATT did, yet along narrower, strategic lines. Over a 100-year horizon the move may mark the start of a bifurcated resource order—one supply chain orbit anchored in Washington, another in Beijing—reviving spheres-of-influence economics last seen before the 1990s hyper-global era. Whether this moment endures hinges on enforcement and on rival producers’ ability to scale mines without repeating the boom-bust cycles that doomed earlier US rare-earth ventures in the 1980s.
Perspectives
Right-leaning U.S. outlets that back the Trump administration
Right-leaning U.S. outlets that back the Trump administration — They frame the proposed critical-minerals trade zone as a bold, necessary step to shield allies from China’s predatory pricing and to revive domestic mining jobs. Coverage plays up Trump-era leadership and downplays possible protectionist costs or WTO challenges, reflecting ideological alignment with the administration’s industrial policy.
Mainstream Asian press from U.S. partner countries
Mainstream Asian press from U.S. partner countries — Reports describe the initiative as a tentative, still-forming multilateral effort that partners like Japan, Singapore and South Korea are willing to study in order to diversify supply chains away from China. Stories avoid overt criticism of either Washington or Beijing, likely to protect their governments’ hedging strategies and trade interests in both superpowers.
International outlets highlighting diplomatic friction
International outlets highlighting diplomatic friction — They note the bloc plan alongside Trump’s past tariff fights and strained relations with allies, casting the proposal as another protectionist move that could aggravate partners even while targeting China. By stressing past quarrels and uncertainties, these reports may underplay the strategic urgency of supply-chain security to emphasize skepticism about Trump’s reliability.