Sustainable Switch-US and EU stockpile critical minerals

By Sharon Kimathi
Energy and ESG Editor, Reuters Digital
sharon.kimathi@thomsonreuters.com

Hello!

Today’s newsletter looks at the importance of critical minerals and how countries are racing to secure them.

Greenland, which United States President Donald Trump says the U.S. must own for strategic reasons, holds many of the minerals the European Union deems “critical,” and warming temperatures are making extraction cheaper. Click here for the full Reuters story on how the Arctic island is already feeling climate change’s effects.

But before we get into critical minerals, here are some major stories that are linked that I couldn’t fit into this focus:

• Some 30 countries want to join critical minerals club, US Interior Secretary Burgum says

• Exclusive: Congo offers manganese, copper‑cobalt, and lithium assets to US investors under minerals pact

• Argentina signs critical minerals deal with US, foreign ministry says

• EU efforts to diversify critical raw material imports fail so far, auditors say

Some critical context

Critical minerals carry environment, social and governance (ESG) risks from environmental damage and dangerous extraction working conditions to geopolitical tussles over supply.

Just last week, more than 200 people were killed in a collapse at the Rubaya coltan mine in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

This week, the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosted the inaugural Critical Minerals Ministerial meeting at the Department of State in Washington, D.C which was attended by representatives of 55 countries with varying refining or mining capabilities.

But before we dive into the purpose of this event, let’s look at a few recent developments.

Aside from Greenland, Trump said last month he had opted against imposing tariffs on rare earths, lithium and other critical minerals, and instead ordered his administration to seek supplies from international trading partners.

For context, China is a top global producer and refiner of more than half of the 54 minerals considered critical by the U.S. Geological Survey, and has been curtailing exports in the past year amid its trade dispute with Washington.

Earlier this week, Trump also launched a U.S. strategic stockpile of critical minerals, called Project Vault, backed by $10 billion in seed funding from the U.S. Export-Import Bank and $2 billion in private funding.

The Critical Minerals Ministerial

Now, back to the event where U.S. Vice President JD Vance unveiled plans to marshal allies into a preferential trade bloc for critical minerals, proposing coordinated price floors.

By guaranteeing minimum prices through coordinated trade rules, Washington hopes to unlock private investment in mining and processing projects that have struggled to compete with cheaper supply from China.

The approach could reshape global supply chains for materials essential to electric vehicles, semiconductors and defense systems, while raising costs for manufacturers in the short term and escalating trade tensions with Beijing.

At the meeting, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer announced a bilateral plan with Mexico and a trilateral agreement with the European Union and Japan to strengthen critical mineral supply chains and set the stage for a broader agreement with other allies.

The plans aim to explore specific measures such as price supports, market standards, subsidies, and guaranteed purchases to encourage production.

The U.S., EU, and Japan also said they would pursue other avenues, including discussions within the Group of 7 and the Minerals Security Partnership.

In a Reuters exclusive, four sources told reporters that the EU is pushing ahead with plans to stockpile critical materials, with Italy, France and Germany set to take leading roles as the bloc also moves to cut reliance on China. Want to learn more about the EU’s plans? Then click here for the full Reuters story.

China’s foreign ministry said that the nation opposes any country undermining the international economic and trade order through rules imposed by small groups, after the U.S. unveiled its plans for a preferential trade bloc of allies for critical minerals.

Talking Points

• Morocco flood evacuation: Morocco urged residents of flood‑prone areas in the country's northwestern plains to leave immediately due to rising threats of inundation from heavy rain, swollen rivers and the release of more water from full dams. The number evacuated by authorities reached 108,432, the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday. Rainfall in Morocco is up 215% from last year and 54% above the historical average, official data showed.

• U.S. storm insurance: Catastrophe risk modeling firm Karen Clark and Company said that privately insured losses from the recent winter storm are estimated to be $6.7 billion. Annual global insured losses from natural catastrophes are expected to hit $107 billion in 2025, driven by the Los Angeles wildfires and severe convective storms in parts of the U.S., according to a study by Swiss Re.

• Iberian floods: In Spain's Andalusia, 14 rivers and 10 dams were at "extreme" risk of overflowing, while authorities in Portugal warned that six rivers were at high risk of flooding. Both Spain and Portugal have been drenched in heavy rainfall just a week after Storm Kristin left six people dead and thousands without power. Click here for the full Reuters report.

• Sicilian landslide: In keeping with floods in Europe, the Sicilian town of Niscemi – with a population of around 25,000 – is teetering on the edge of a cliff after a massive landslide last week. Click here for a moving article and accompanying video on the residents' rush to save their belongings and their resilience during such a difficult time.

In Conversation

Dr. Patrick Schröder, senior research fellow at the UK-based research institute, Chatham House, shared his thoughts about the recent critical minerals floor prices announcement by the U.S.:

"A coordinated price floor for critical minerals is a sensible response to structural market distortions and could support long-term investment in environmentally responsible mining. However, it should not be sold as a standalone solution.

"The effectiveness of any price floor will depend on its design, particularly ensuring that floor prices are not automatically granted, but tied to stringent environmental, social, and governance criteria, adapted to differing mineral market structures, and complemented by comparable mechanisms for secondary and recycled minerals so that circular models are financially viable and form a core pillar of minerals security.

"Equally critical is ensuring that such mechanisms benefit developing country producer countries and communities; without inclusive governance and fair revenue distribution, they risk actually reinforcing existing inequalities rather than delivering shared economic benefits."

ESG Spotlight

Today’s spotlight shines a light on Iraqi scientists leveraging the power of technology to grow a cultural staple – date palms – amid creeping water salinity and land loss.

Date palms, once central to Iraq's agricultural economy, have been ravaged by the upstream damming of the Tigris and Euphrates, declining rainfall, seawater intrusion and decades of conflict.

Today’s Sustainable Switch was edited by Emelia Sithole-Matarise

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