Beyond Pax Silica: Japan, France and Canada seek rare earth autonomy

For years, the West’s answer to Chinese dominance of critical minerals was to rally around Washington. Now, some of its most important allies are reaching a different conclusion: that depending too heavily on the United States carries its own risks.Japan, France and Canada have all been exploring how to build supply chains for rare earths and other critical minerals that answer to neither Beijing nor Washington.Senior officials from the three Group of Seven economies are working on alternatives to a US-led trade framework, according to a Reuters report from March 6, as part of what analysts call an emerging architecture of “minilateral” arrangements that are modest in scope but collectively designed to dilute geopolitical exposure.The options under discussion include import quotas on certain rare earths, subsidies to help mining companies shift production out of China, and a Canada-led initiative to develop a reliable critical minerals network untethered from any single superpower.Blocks with symbols and atomic numbers of rare earth elements seen against a Chinese flag. Photo: ReutersSpeaking on the sidelines of a recent mining conference in Toronto, Hiroyuki Hatada, director of the Americas Division at Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, said one approach would be to subsidise Western mining projects until they could compete commercially with Chinese producers – an acknowledgement of how steep that climb would be.The strategic logic is not difficult to follow. China controls more than 90 per cent of global production for rare earths, which are essential for everything from mobile phones to electric vehicles and hi-tech weapons systems.