From China’s chokehold to Trump’s stockpile, Europe looks for least bad rare earth bet

2026-02-05 - 10:08

EU industry chief Stephane Sejourne was in Washington on Wednesday, with a mandate from the bloc’s 27 member states to work towards a memorandum on critical minerals with the United States. With the sides keen to reduce their reliance on China, dramatically weaponised during last year’s US-China trade war, the French commissioner secured a “commitment” to work towards a memorandum within 30 days, to identify joint mining, refining, processing and recycling projects. In a joint statement that...