The Trump administration's push to create a Western critical minerals trading bloc is facing significant headwinds from sceptical G7 allies and a divided mining industry, with negotiations over price supports, governance structures and enforcement mechanisms producing more disagreement than consensus ahead of the G7 leaders' summit in France
The bloc concept, first proposed by Vice President JD Vance in February, aims to help Western nations reduce dependence on China — which built its dominant position in cobalt, lithium, nickel, rare earths and other strategic minerals partly by operating at a loss and suppressing global prices, driving Western competitors out of business The proposed measures include price supports, market standards, subsidies and guaranteed purchases, potentially enforced by adjustable tariffs to uphold pricing integrity
