On June 17, the last day of the summit, G7 leaders issued a joint statement committing to strengthen cooperation for stabilizing critical mineral supply chains, which are essential for defense, advanced technology, and renewable energy industries.
Western nations have been accelerating efforts to secure alternative supply chains to reduce reliance on China for critical minerals. Last year, China's export restrictions on permanent magnets disrupted the global market, revealing the excessive dependence of key industries on a single source.
While the G7 leaders did not mention China directly in their statement, they set a goal to reduce reliance on single sources outside the G7 and partner countries for rare earths and permanent magnets to below 60% by 2030, aiming to reach 50% as soon as possible.
The leaders stated, "We will work to build a harmonious and interoperable mechanism," initially focusing on lithium and nickel as pilot critical minerals. They emphasized that this would be pursued in a manner that does not undermine competitiveness or impose excessive costs.
The mechanism is expected to expand annually by adding five new minerals, starting with rare earths.
Challenges Ahead for Achieving Goals
However, there are concerns that achieving these goals may not be easy. Reuters reported that China controls 90% of the global production of processed rare earths and magnets, making the G7's target of reducing reliance to 60% a challenging one.
Neha Mukherjee, a research manager at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, noted that the G7 statement signals important intent but added, "The speed of supply chain diversification depends on whether policy support can lead to investments in the midstream and downstream sectors of the value chain."
The G7 also agreed to establish a platform for policy coordination, data sharing, and crisis response. This platform will collaborate with the IEA to monitor the critical mineral market and provide early warnings of supply chain risks. The G7 stated that this platform will utilize IEA analyses and early alerts on market distortions.
G7 nations and their allies face the challenge of building a complete supply chain from mining to processing to final product production, which will require significant investment. The leaders emphasized that development finance institutions and export credit agencies should support critical mineral projects and infrastructure alongside the private sector.
According to Reuters, countries have announced 195 critical mineral investment projects worth €64 billion (approximately $112 billion) since early 2026.
The G7 is also considering various policy tools, including price gap subsidies, joint procurement, quotas, and price floors. However, the lack of clear agreement on some measures, such as price floors, reflects a cautious attitude among some G7 allies regarding the previous administration's price intervention proposals.
Additionally, the G7 plans to expand stockpiling and recycling of critical minerals. They aim to strengthen stockpiling in both the industrial and public sectors and build the capacity to meet a significant portion of annual consumption through recycled resources by 2030.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaiichi, who attended the meeting, confirmed that the proposal for joint stockpiling of critical minerals was included in the outcome document. According to NHK and other sources, Takaiichi stated at a press conference after the summit, "The important thing is to reduce excessive dependence on specific countries for critical minerals like rare earths and to expand alternative procurement sources with G7 and like-minded countries."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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