The U.S. and European Union are seeking a preliminary agreement on the supply of so-called critical minerals used in electric vehicles, a step toward Washington’s efforts to reduce the global reliance on China for materials necessary for green-energy technologies.
The agreement, if finalized, also has a shorter-term benefit of defusing a trade dispute between the U.S. and Europe by allowing EU companies access to some of benefits included in President Joe Biden’s massive climate-subsidy plan.
"We have agreed that we will start work now with a clear goal — the goal is to have an agreement on critical raw materials that have been sourced, or processed in the European Union,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters in Washington on Friday where she met Biden for discussions.