The US embassy business in Brazil, Gabriel Escobar, met with representatives of the Brazilian Mining Institute (IBRAM) this week to formalize Donald Trump’s interest in the strategic minerals present in the country.
Among the target resources are niobium, copper, lithium, uranium, in addition to the so -called rare lands, a set of 17 chemical elements available mainly in China and Brazil, which has the second largest reserve in the world, according to data from the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME).
The new US government onslaught in these minerals can help with tariff negotiations, scheduled to take effect on August 1. The vice president of Brazil, Geraldo Alckmin (PSB), said that the government evaluates the situation, classified by him as “a very long agenda that can be explored”.
Since returning to the White House in January, President Donald Trump has used his interest in strategic miners from other countries to negotiate commercial agreements and remove control from China from the market.
Remember other trump attacks in the global mineral sector
Even before being sworn in to the second term in January, President Donald Trump began to show interest in Greenlandin statements that said the territory was “essential for the security of the United States.” Although the onslaught was not new at the time, as this agenda was present in the first term, the situation quickly climbed, irritating Denmark authorities.
One of the reasons that explain the interest in Greenland is precisely its little explored variety of precious metals such as gold and platinum, as well as basic metals such as iron, copper, nickel, cobalt and uranium. The territory also has elements of rare lands, including neodymium, discretion, and passehyl, which have become essential for developing equipment technology such as batteries, but there is also greater attention for its military use.
In February, Trump signaled to Ukraine who was interested in a negotiation involving the exploitation of rare lands present in Eastern European country. In April, after some impasses, an agreement was signed between the countries.
In return, the United States has established the US-UCRANIA RECONSTRUCTION INVESTRATION FUND, whose objective was to accelerate Ukraine’s economic recovery through structured investments, focusing on critical sectors such as energy, infrastructure and mining of strategic minerals, according to the US Treasury Department at the time.
The agreement gave the United States access to strategic natural resources for industry and energy safety, such as natural gas, oil, aluminum, copper, graffiti and rare land minerals, including lithium and titanium.
In March, Trump signed an executive order to boost the national exploitation of critical minerals and rare lands. The document has allowed the government to invoke emergency powers to encourage domestic exploitation of these materials and reduce dependence on other countries, such as China, leader in the sector.
In April, with the beginning of the commercial war between the United States and China, the Asian giant suspended the export of certain minerals and rare land used in strategic sectors of the American industry such as automotive, aerospace, semiconductors and defense.
In June, Trump talked to dictator Xi Jinping by telephone about trade and exploration of rare land in an attempt to resume imports from certain miners to the United States. That month, the countries reached a temporary trade agreement, with statements by Beijing signaling to withdraw the restrictions on the rare lands.
Last week, the US President announced a trade agreement with Indonesia from August, which will include access to “valuable critical minerals” from the Asian country, along with commitments to purchase US aircraft and energy.
