Over a series of decades, China built up its stranglehold on much of the world’s critical minerals supply chains…rest of the world deferred to Beijing in exchange for cheap prices…Amid an ongoing tariff war with the U.S.—and a temporary truce—the Trump administration is racing to build up domestic mining and processing capabilities, while also developing the global partnerships necessary to eventually undermine China…In October, Trump inked a deal with Australia for both countries to invest $3 billion in critical minerals projects by mid-2026…Jeff Dickerson, principal advisor for Rystad Energy research firm, said only a long-term, coordinated effort—essentially a “wartime” approach—both domestically and with international partnerships can lead to success. But it cannot be done without new projects with foreign allies. “The challenge is that the U.S. doesn’t have a strong pipeline of mature mineral projects that are shovel ready,” he said…The Trump administration is increasingly making financial partnerships with critical minerals developers—even becoming a majority shareholder of U.S. rare earths miner MP Materials—and offering deals for floor-pricing mechanisms to offset China’s recurring dumping practices that aim to eliminate competition…“By providing a price floor, it removes the question marks; it removes the instability; it removes the most significant risk in funding a project that’s about to go into production,” Althaus said. “It creates a predictability where you can take geology all the way through to profitability. I think there should be a global effort to create transparent markets and prices for the key critical minerals.”…Critical minerals are increasingly included in U.S. negotiations for all foreign deals. In the tariff agreement with Indonesia, for instance, the Asian nation agreed to lift export bans on nickel. The White House leveraged its military support for Ukraine by demanding the rights to its critical minerals in return. And the recent U.S. bailout of Argentina included a partnership on critical minerals mining….“I think it’s a positive, and I think we’ll start to see a lot more happen in the coming months in terms of the U.S. and collaboration with other countries.”

The U.S. military said it plans to develop a fleet of small-scale refineries to produce critical minerals used to make bullets, armor and other types of weaponry, a move aimed at developing domestic sources for niche materials that Chinese miners have long controlled…The plans, which have not been previously reported, are being developed by the U.S. Army alongside the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and antimony and gold miner Perpetua Resources with antimony being the first mineral the military aims to refine…If successful, Washington aims to develop refineries for other minerals as well, including tungsten, rare earths and boron, all of which are considered critical by the U.S. government…"We need to come up with a way to make our own (critical minerals) domestically that we can actually monitor and control within our borders," said Mark Mezger, a munitions procurement adviser for the U.S. Army…The Idaho National Laboratory will test the facility for the next six months and, if it passes muster, will operate it for the Army and Perpetua, which is backed by JPMorgan Chase and billionaire investor John Paulson…Refineries for other minerals could be located on military bases or other government properties, officials said. 

Today, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Finance and National Revenue, chaired a virtual meeting of G7 Finance Ministers. Focused on bolstering global economic resilience, the core of the discussion centred on export controls and critical minerals…Canada, which holds the G7 presidency this year, invited the Finance Ministers and their representatives from Australia, Chile, India, Mexico, and Republic of Korea to join the meeting. This recognized the strategic role these countries play in global supply chains for critical minerals. Minister Champagne underscored the necessity that like-minded countries work together as partners and allies…G7 Finance Ministers reiterated that stable and reliable supply chains are essential to drive global economic growth and security. They reviewed the progress made under the G7 Critical Minerals Action Plan. The plan, adopted at the G7 Leaders’ Meeting in Kananaskis, Alberta, last June, aims to advance global supply chains that meet standards of transparency, diversification, security, sustainable mining practices, trust and reliability…An important point of consensus was the concern regarding the application of non-market policies, including export controls, to critical minerals supply chains, citing significant negative macroeconomic consequences, increased price volatility, and a deterioration in global growth prospects.

Prices of cobalt hydroxide used to make chemicals for electric vehicle batteries have risen sharply this year due to cobalt export restrictions from top producer Democratic Republic of Congo, industry sources said…Congo suspended all cobalt exports in February, but then introduced a quota system in October, aiming to boost state revenues and tighten oversight in a country that produces more than 70% of the metal globally, estimated at more than 280,000 metric tons this year…Sellers of cobalt hydroxide have been raising their prices since Congo first suspended exports in February…Payables for Congo's hydroxide in top consumer China have jumped to 100% of the cobalt metal price currently trading around $24 a lb or $52,900 a ton, up from nine-year lows of around $10 a lb in February.

The European Union has delayed by a week the release of closely watched proposals for the auto sector that could weaken a 2035 ban on new CO2-emitting cars, the European Commission confirmed on Monday…Both were due out on Wednesday but are now pencilled in for December 16…The 2035 car emissions policy is being particularly closely watched by carmakers and governments, including Germany and Italy, which want the EU to allow continued sales of plug-in hybrids and combustion-engine cars that run on so-called CO2-neutral fuels such as those made from crops or waste…In its current form, the measure would effectively ban sales of new combustion-engine cars…European carmakers have said they need flexibility on the 2035 car policy to cope with slower-than-expected electric vehicle sales and fierce competition from China.

Renault will jointly develop small, cheaper electric vehicles for Ford for the European market and will also team up to produce commercial vans to cut costs and fend off rising competition from Chinese rivals, the companies said on Tuesday…"We know we're in a fight for our lives in our industry," Ford CEO Jim Farley told reporters in Paris on Monday ahead of the announcement, when describing Ford's response to the threat posed by cheaper Chinese competition. "There is no better example than here in Europe."…As part of the Ford-Renault partnership, the first of two planned small EVs - to be produced at a Renault plant in northern France - will reach European car showrooms in 2028. They will be smaller than any Ford plans for the U.S. market and fill a gap in the automaker's lineup, Farley said…Although there are few Chinese brand vans on sale in Europe, Farley said the two companies "compete with them directly every day" in emerging markets…"The Chinese will come soon and that's why I don't want to wait," said Renault CEO Francois Provost…Given the withdrawal of EV support from U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, the No. 2 U.S. automaker faces the dual expense of investing in combustion-engine models and expensive new EV technology…Using Renault's EV platforms with Ford designs should help the U.S. automaker to compete in Europe's electric car market against traditional automakers such as Volkswagen as well as the Chinese.

BMW named 30-year company veteran Milan Nedeljkovic as its next CEO on Tuesday to replace long-time chief Oliver Zipse, as the German automaker bets on a new generation of electric cars to counter U.S. tariffs, Chinese competition and Tesla…The move, not unexpected with 61-year-old Zipse already beyond the usual retirement age, will put one of the architects of the new "Neue Klasse" EV range at the helm of the company at a time when cheap Chinese models are flooding the market…"Neue Klasse represents the largest leap BMW has ever taken in investment and in technology, and so in our view it is good that one of its principal architects will lead the company as this gets progressively deployed," said Bernstein analysts.

Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi on Monday accused Rwanda of violating its commitments to a U.S.-brokered peace deal aimed at ending years of conflict in the country's mineral-rich east, just days after attending a signing ceremony in Washington…Tshisekedi made the accusations in a speech to lawmakers. There was no immediate response from Rwanda. The U.S. State Department urged Rwanda to prevent escalation…Over the weekend, Rwanda-backed M23 rebels advanced in an area close to the border with Burundi, seizing the village of Luvungi, according to two residents who spoke to Reuters and shared a video of the rebels holding a meeting there. Rwanda denies backing the rebels…Last week, Rwanda and Congo reaffirmed their commitment to a U.S.-brokered deal signed in June and signed new agreements in Washington.