The United States signed a flurry of deals on trade and critical minerals with four Southeast Asian partners on Sunday, looking to address trade imbalances and diversify supply chains amid tighter export curbs on rare earths by China…Trump on Sunday inked two separate U.S. deals with Thailand and Malaysia seeking cooperation to diversify critical minerals supply chains, amid competing efforts from Beijing in the rapidly growing sector…China, the world's top miner and processor of rare earths, has imposed increasingly stringent export controls on its refining technology, sending global manufacturers scrambling to secure alternative supplies for critical minerals used widely in semiconductor chips, electric vehicles and military equipment. Malaysia agreed on Sunday to refrain from banning or imposing quotas on exports to the U.S. of critical minerals or rare earth elements, the countries said in a statement.

The European Union is developing a new plan to curb its reliance on Chinese critical raw materials, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Saturday, as she criticised Beijing for its expanded restrictions on the export of rare earths…Von der Leyen said the EU would seek to speed up critical raw materials partnerships with countries such as Australia, Canada, Chile, Greenland, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine…The plan would also include greater efforts to recycle critical raw materials in products sold in Europe, she said. "The aim is to secure access to alternative sources of critical raw materials in the short, medium and long term for our European industries," she told a conference in Berlin…"We will focus on everything from joint purchasing to stockpiling. We will boost investment in strategic projects for the production and processing of critical raw materials here in the European Union," she added.

Cobalt producers in the Democratic Republic of Congo are still waiting for government approval to resume exports under a quota system introduced on October 16 that was expected to restart shipments immediately, four industry sources told Reuters…Congo accounts for over 70% of global cobalt output and temporarily froze exports to curb supply and drive up prices…Under the new regime, companies must apply for monthly export quotas from state regulator, the Strategic Mineral Substances Market Regulation and Control Authority (ARECOMS), and prepay royalties based on assigned volumes and prevailing cobalt prices before shipping…To export, companies must validate quotas and product quality, obtain traceability and compliance certificates, and allow ARECOMS oversight during sampling. For October and November, prepayments are combined to activate both months’ quotas, the regulator said…Quotas have been allocated, and firms are hoping for approvals by the end of October, although delays are possible, the sources at mining and trading firms said, requesting anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly…Congo's President Félix Tshisekedi has said the export freeze helped drive a 92% rebound in cobalt prices since March, calling the quota system “a real lever to influence this strategic market” after years of “predatory strategies.”

Long overlooked by Ottawa, Canada’s remote and resource-rich Arctic is suddenly at the center of a new national project — one whose potential was recognized early on by outside players, including the United States…“There was a lot of interest from other places,” R.J. Simpson, the premier of Canada’s Northwest Territories, told POLITICO recently. “Even the U.S. Department of Defense has made investments into a couple mining projects in the Northwest Territories, yet we did not. We couldn't seem to get any interest from Canada to get anything done up north.”…But Simpson says that is finally changing — driven by a mix of economic ambition and military necessity. With Prime Minister Mark Carney’s new nation-building agenda and U.S. pressure to secure North America’s northern frontier, Canada is turning its attention to the Arctic’s critical minerals, infrastructure and defense potential — a shift that could redefine the North’s role in both national sovereignty and continental security…New Arctic spending will help Canada achieve its commitment to NATO’s new spending target of 5 percent of GDP by 2035 — including a 1.5 percent component for military-related industrial spending. The move is likely to please the Trump administration, which shares Canada’s concerns about Russian and Chinese incursions into a resource-rich area as melting polar ice opens up new shipping lanes…Simpson also pointed to ongoing American interest in Canada’s Arctic — and to Carney’s focus on both economic and military investments across the region, which includes Yukon and Nunavut…A joint critical minerals pact between Canada and the former Biden administration helped spark that interest. In 2024, the Pentagon invested C$8.74 million ($6.23 million) in the Northwest Territory’s NICO cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper project — part of a broader Pentagon push to secure rare earth minerals needed to power military hardware. Ottawa contributed C$7.5 million ($5.34 million) to the project…Now, Simpson is optimistic Ottawa’s new enthusiasm in the North could translate into ports, highways and military infrastructure that will benefit civilian populations. Those projects could help unlock oil and gas and critical minerals while giving Canada and the U.S. a stronger hand in a global supply chain dominated and manipulated by China…McGuinty said he’s working with Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson to develop the Arctic’s critical minerals and oil reserves. The two, he said, are taking a “very integrated approach ... under the rubric of not just defense.”…“We're looking at landing strips and dual use, multi-use … installations. We're evaluating deep-sea ports. We're evaluating our forward operating locations under NORAD,” McGuinty said.