The United States and Australia have signed landmark agreements worth 8.5 billion US dollars, focused on critical minerals and defence cooperation. The deals were formalised at the White House during a high-level meeting between US President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. The agreements follow months of negotiations and are aimed at enhancing supply chain security, energy independence, and military collaboration between the two allies.
President Trump said the critical minerals agreement had been in the works for four to five months. A factsheet released by the White House described the Critical Minerals Framework as a ‘model for supply-chain cooperation globally.’ According to the document, the two governments will jointly invest over 3 billion US dollars into critical minerals projects, which together have an estimated recoverable value of 53 billion dollars.
Prime Minister Albanese said 8.5 billion US dollar is in the pipeline, with 1 billion dollars in joint investment from both sides committed over the next six months for projects ready to launch. The move comes in response to China’s new restrictions on the export of magnets made with rare earth materials.