Finance ministers from the G7 and other major economies met in Washington on Monday to discuss ways to reduce dependence on rare earths from China, including setting a price floor and new partnerships to build up alternative supplies, ministers said…The meeting, convened by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, included finance ministers from G7 members Japan, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and the U.S. as well as officials from Australia, Mexico, South Korea and India…U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and representatives from the U.S. Export-Import Bank and JP Morgan also attended, but no joint statement was issued by the meeting's participants….The Treasury said in a statement that Bessent sought "to discuss solutions to secure and diversify supply chains for critical minerals, especially rare earth elements," and expressed optimism that countries would pursue "prudent de-risking over decoupling" from China…"These include creating markets based on standards such as respect for labor conditions and human rights, as well as deploying a range of policy tools - support from public financial institutions, tax and financial incentives, trade and tariff measures, quarantine measures and minimum price setting," Katayama said. "I stressed the importance of committing to these measures."…The gathering's participating countries and the EU account for 60% of global demand for critical minerals. But China dominates the supply chain, refining between 47% and 87% of copper, lithium, cobalt, graphite and rare earths, according to the International Energy Agency…He said rare earths and critical mineral supplies would be a central topic under the French presidency of the Group of Seven advanced economies this year.

The U.S. Department of War has invested $150 million ‌in preferred equity, while Pinnacle's affiliate, Concord Resources Holdings, has put in more than $300 million in private capital, Atlantic Alumina, or ATALCO, ‍said on Monday…The Trump administration has ramped up efforts to secure U.S. supply chains for critical minerals, including ⁠shifting some federal support from grants to ‍direct equity stakes, as Washington seeks to reduce reliance ‌on ‌market leader China…ATALCO will set up the primary gallium production circuit at Gramercy, Louisiana, the company said, with the partnership aimed at reinforcing ⁠national supplies ⁠of critical minerals to aerospace, defense, semiconductors and energy technologies.