, Columnist
Don’t Buy the Hype on a US-Brazil Rare Earths Deal
I dig you, you dig me, let’s dig together for rare earths!
Photographer: Brazilian Government / Ricardo Stuckert / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images
The race for critical minerals is bringing together the unlikely partnership between US President Donald Trump and Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
That was evident during their improvised bilateral meeting at the White House last week, where rare-earth cooperation triggered smiles and promises of closer ties. For Trump, preparing for a consequential trip to China, it was a way of showing Beijing that the US is regaining the initiative in Latin America’s largest economy and boosting its access to the natural resources central to the battle over modern supply chains.