The United States and Japan signed a critical minerals agreement on March 19, 2026, following a summit in Washington between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. The deal aims to strengthen supply chains for key resources like rare earths, lithium, and copper, and to reduce their dependence on China.
Key projects under the “Japan-U.S. Critical Minerals Program” include:
- Rare Earth Refining (Indiana): Led by Mitsubishi Materials to recycle rare earths from used electronics.
- Copper Refining (Indiana): A Mitsubishi Materials initiative to recover copper from electronic circuit boards.
- Lithium Mining (North Carolina): A partnership between Mitsui & Co. and U.S. firm Albemarle.
- Copper Mining (Arizona): The “Copper World” mine, backed by an $870 million investment from Mitsubishi Corporation.
A key goal is to reduce reliance on China, which accounts for 60% of global rare earth mining and 90% of its refining. To achieve this, the partners plan to introduce a “minimum price guarantee” mechanism, likely using tariffs to ensure new supply chains are not undercut by low-cost Chinese minerals.
The two nations also signed a separate memorandum of understanding to cooperate on developing deep-sea mineral resources, such as rare earth deposits near Japan’s Minamitorishima Island
