If We Want Lithium, Let China Finance It
The Asian nation has built world-class refining and electric-vehicle capabilities. Canada can keep Chinese investment dollars without losing control of critical minerals.
Lithium is vital for the millions of batteries required to meet decarbonization goals.
Photographer: Bloomberg/BloombergThe surest way to test Canada’s famed affability is to buy their miners and drillers. When it comes to lithium, even minority stakes in companies just exploring for the stuff now appear to be out of bounds: Ottawa just ordered Chinese investors backing three local developers of the battery metal to ditch their shares. Given the deepening rift between China and the West, this may not surprise. But, does it actually help or hinder Canada’s strategic goals?
Foreign investment in a country's natural resources often comes with hefty emotional baggage; centuries of resource wars and colonialism will tend to do that. The history of oil, for example, is replete with such conflict. Yet that industry has financed the development of gargantuan fields via partnerships between companies hailing from all corners of the globe. Why? Because it’s a good way to raise capital.