Washington DC [US], February 4 : As the United States hosted the inaugural critical minerals ministerial on Wednesday, Vice President JD Vance suggested towards the creation of a preferential trade zone so as to protect critical minerals from external disruptions and called for establishing reference prices to reflect the real world fair market value.
The US VP made the statement in his opening remarks at the Ministerial. He said, "This morning the Trump administration is proposing a concrete mechanism to return the global critical minerals market to a healthier, more competitive state. A preferential trade zone for critical minerals protected from external disruptions through enforceable price floors. We will establish reference prices for critical minerals at each stage of production. Pricing that reflects real-world fair market value. And for members of the preferential zone, these reference prices will operate as a floor, maintained through adjustable tariffs to uphold pricing integrity."
He further noted, "I think every single one of us represented in this room has become dependent on arrangements we did not choose, and right now arrangements that we cannot control. We all face the same vulnerability. Access to the things that protect our people and sustain our way of life, everything from missile defense systems to energy infrastructure to advanced manufacturing to emerging technologies, the fundamental supply chains that support these industries sometimes can vanish in the blink of an eye without any control or influence from many of the countries in this room. And we in the Trump administration believe it is the business of the government, of the people's government elected just over a year ago, to confront such problems and that we want to confront them together. And I think that you're all here, at least I hope you're all here because you all feel the exact same way."
Vance underlined the importance of allies in his remarks and said that the Ministerial aims at the ultimate goal of diversifying global supply in critical minerals and help strengthen partners in this collective effort.
"We seek to make sure our friends and our allies are part of this and that you all are covered as well. Our goal here, and the reason why we're doing this--this conference, is to align trade policy, development finance, and diplomatic engagement towards a shared strategic objective. And that objective is very simple: diversifying global supply in the critical minerals market while strengthening the partner countries who help all of us in this shared effort."
Vance hinted towards forming a trading block among allies and partners and said, "We want to eliminate that problem of people flooding into our markets with cheap critical minerals to undercut our domestic manufacturers because we know of course that as soon as they've undercut our domestic makers they--the domestic markets, they leave the market and the people who undercut them then jack up the price to a completely unfair level. We're going to fix that problem. Together we want members to form a trading block among allies and partners, one that guarantees American access to American industrial might while also expanding production across the entire zone. The benefits will be immediate and durable. Regardless of how much material flows into the global market, prices within the preferential trade zone will remain consistent."
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio highlighted the importance of economic security through critical minerals and the need for allies to come together not only for rectifying the mistakes of past but to pool in collective talent and innovation to ensure diversity and affordability in supply chains.
Rubio said, "We are gathered here today as the first step to rectify the mistake, bring together our collective talent and innovation".
The US Secretary of State underlined how mining came to be seen as unglamorous with respect to designing computers. "As we embraced what was new and glamorous, we outsourced what seemed old and unfashionable... and one day we realised we had outsourced our economic security and our very future. We were at the mercy of whoever controlled the supply chains for these minerals"
He called it an international situation that needs multilateral solutions.
Rubio highlighted the importance of critical minerals and said, "They power our infrastructure, our industry and our national defence. Our goal is to have a global supply chain which is enduring and available to everyone, every nation at an affordable price. That is the top priority for this administration".
He highlighted the diverse roles which the countries gathered can play- from exercising purchasing power by being consumers to refining minerals if they do not have access to them "to build a more resilient and diverse global market".
Rubio said that while the initiative started with the United States, he called for it be an international global initiative where like-minded countries see a diverse supply of critical minerals and secure and resilient supply chains across the world for the economies to prosper, "without having these leveraged against us or any disruption that would undermine collective economic security".
The United States is hosting the inaugural Critical Minerals Ministerial in Washington DC, bringing together delegations from over 50 countries to advance collaboration on securing and diversifying global critical mineral supply chains, according to a prior notice issued by the Office of the Spokesperson of the US State Department.
Prior to the Ministerial, on Monday, US President Donald Trump announced Project Vault, a supply chain security initiative, which will create the US Strategic Critical Minerals Reserve--an independently governed public-private partnership designed to store essential raw materials at facilities across the country.
Rubio is chairing the ministerial, and the gathering is being described as a historic effort to build collective momentum for cooperation to secure critical minerals essential to technological innovation, economic growth, and national security.