Washington, Jan 10: India and Australia, along with several other nations, have been invited to a special G7 finance ministers’ meeting on critical minerals, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. The meeting, hosted in Washington on Monday, aims to address global supply chain vulnerabilities in strategic minerals like rare earths, lithium, and cobalt.
Bessent noted that he had been advocating for a dedicated session on critical minerals since last summer’s G7 summit. Finance ministers held a virtual discussion on the issue in December, and the upcoming in-person meeting will focus on actionable steps to secure supply chains and support economic resilience. It remains unclear whether India has formally accepted the invitation.
The G7, comprising the United States, Britain, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, and Canada, alongside the European Union, relies heavily on China for critical minerals, which dominate global refining of copper, lithium, cobalt, graphite, and rare earths. These minerals are essential for defense technologies, semiconductors, renewable energy components, batteries, and industrial refining processes.
Australia signed a strategic minerals agreement with the U.S. in October, including an $8.5 billion project pipeline and a proposed strategic reserve of critical metals. The deal aims to counter China’s dominance and has since attracted interest from Europe, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore.
The timing of the G7 meeting comes amid reports that China has restricted rare earth exports to Japanese firms and banned certain dual-use items for Japan’s military, underscoring global concerns about supply reliability.
Bessent confirmed that China continues to meet its commitments on U.S. soybean purchases and the supply of critical minerals to American companies, but noted the growing urgency for alternative supply sources.
This meeting is expected to further coordinate global efforts to reduce dependency on Chinese minerals while promoting resilient and diversified supply chains.