NEW YORK, December 12. /TASS/. The United States is building a rare earths and artificial intelligence (AI) alliance to primarily address access to critical minerals. Politco newspaper reported this news.
This alliance includes Australia, Israel, Singapore, South Korea and Japan. According to the publication, US President Donald Trump is forming a coalition “to counter China's dominant control over critical minerals and its growing role as a hub for AI and other technology sectors.”
According to the publication, such a decision by Washington reflects “US concerns about China's large-scale investments in artificial intelligence and quantum computing, which could give the country a competitive advantage in the 21st century economy.” According to US Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and Environment Jacob Helberg, the creation of such an association “is a game changer because today there is no group that can come together to discuss the economics of AI and how to compete in this field with China.”
Helberg emphasized that the Trump administration is looking to attract “other allies and partners with mineral resources, technology and production” into the alliance.
On October 9, China's Ministry of Commerce announced two documents tightening export control of rare earth metals and related technologies. On October 10, US President Donald Trump announced that the United States would impose additional 100% tariffs on products from China, as well as software export controls, on or before November 1. In addition, he warned of possible restrictions on the supply of other goods to China, mainly aircraft parts.
On October 30, after meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump announced that China had agreed to continue supplying rare earth metals to the US without hindrance.
