The European Union plans to set up a central authority to coordinate buying and stockpiling of critical minerals to keep the U.S. from securing supplies "under our noses," industry chief Stéphane Séjourné said on Wednesday…In an interview, Séjourné told the Financial Times newspaper that the EU had become "collateral damage" in a U.S.-China dispute over rare earths, which are vital for defence and clean technologies.

Australia is seeing more interest in its strategic critical minerals reserve from allies including the European Union since it signed a deal with the United States last month, Australia's trade minister said on Wednesday…"Having seen what we've done with the Americans, I think there's increased interest from the Europeans, from the Japanese, from the South Koreans, Singaporeans, in what we're doing in this space," Minister for Trade and Tourism Don Farrell told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) meeting in Melbourne…"Particularly the Europeans don't want to miss out."…The resource-rich Antipodean nation, wanting to expand into processing from its base of mining critical minerals, put preferential access to the reserve on the table in U.S. trade negotiations…The deal between the two countries also pledged to set a minimum price floor for critical minerals…Without a price floor, companies will struggle to be competitive with China, which is able to produce the minerals cheaply due to the massive scale of its industry.

STRENGTHENING OUR STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP: Today, President Donald J. Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Saudi Arabia, or the Kingdom) finalized a series of landmark agreements that deepen the U.S.-Saudi strategic partnership, expand opportunities for high-paying American jobs, strengthen critical supply chains, and reinforce regional stability—all while putting American workers, industry, and security first…The United States and Saudi Arabia also signed a Critical Minerals Framework, deepening collaboration and aligning our national strategies to diversify critical mineral supply chains. This agreement builds on similar deals President Trump secured with other trading partners to safeguard America’s supply chain resilience for essential minerals.

GLENCORE and Umicore are among smelting and refining firms that have warned the European Union proposed regulations on cobalt exposure could devastate the region’s industry and increase reliance on Chinese supplies…They said planned rules are already deterring investment and undermining efforts to establish a domestic supply chain for the metal, which is essential for electric vehicles and defence applications…The Commission has proposed limiting inhalable cobalt particles to 0.01 milligrammes per cubic metre, significantly below China’s 0.05mg/m³ threshold and the 0.1mg/m³ limit in the UK, said the Financial times. Industry representatives favour 0.02mg/m³, arguing the stricter standard would force companies to relocate operations to jurisdictions with less stringent requirements…“The damage is already being felt,” the letter stated, warning that firms are redirecting capital away from Europe. The industry claims the regulations would eliminate one in six cobalt facilities and associated employment, contradicting objectives outlined in the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act.

Toyota Motor on Tuesday announced plans to invest $912 million in U.S. manufacturing plants in five Southern states as part of a previously announced plan for the company to invest up to $10 billion domestically by 2030…The investments announced Tuesday are broadly meant to support increasing production of hybrid vehicles, which Toyota leads with a more than 51% market share through the third quarter of this year, according to Motor Intelligence data. Most of the investments are expected to be completed by 2027…The largest investment announced Tuesday is $453 million in Toyota’s Buffalo, West Virginia, plant to increase assembly of four-cylinder hybrid-compatible engines.