US, Australia sign critical minerals pact to counter China

US President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signed a critical minerals agreement aimed at countering China on Monday at a meeting marked by Trump's jab at Australia's envoy to the United States over past criticism.

China loomed large at the first White House summit between Trump and Albanese, with the US President also backing a strategic nuclear-powered submarine deal with Australia to bolster security in the Indo-Pacific.

While Trump and Albanese greeted each other warmly, the US President expressed ire about past criticism of him by Australia's US ambassador Kevin Rudd, a former PM.

Rudd in 2020 called Trump “the most destructive president in history”, later deleting the comment from social media. Trump said he was not aware of the critical comments and asked where the envoy was now.

Upon seeing him across the table, Trump said, “I don't like you either, and I probably never will.” The visit otherwise appeared to go smoothly, with Albanese and Trump signing a minerals deal that Trump said had been negotiated in recent months. Albanese described it as an $8.5 billion pipeline that they had ready to go.

A copy of the agreement released by both governments said the two countries will each invest $1 billion over the next six months into mining and processing projects as well as set a minimum price floor for critical minerals, a move that Western miners have long sought.

A White House statement on the agreement added that the investments would target deposits of critical minerals worth $53 billion, although it did not provide details on which types or locations. “In about a year from now, we'll have so much critical mineral and rare earths that you won't know what to do with them,” Trump said.

The US Export-Import Bank, which acts as the government's export credit agency, later announced seven letters of interest totaling more than $2.2 billion to advance critical minerals projects in Australia.