Japan and the United States have reached a consensus on the framework for ensuring the supply of rare earths and critical minerals

The United States and Japan signed a framework agreement on Tuesday, aiming to ensure the supply of rare earths and critical minerals through mining and processing.

Agence France-Presse reported that during his visit to Japan on Tuesday (October 28), US President Donald Trump reached an agreement with Japanese Prime Minister Saane Takashi on the relevant framework.

According to a statement released by the White House, this framework aims to "assist the two countries in achieving resilience and security in the supply chains of critical minerals and rare earths."

The two countries plan to accelerate the development of diversified, liquid and fair critical minerals and rare earth markets through the use of economic policy tools and coordinated investment.

The statement also said that the United States and Japan will "jointly identify projects to address the gaps in the supply chains of critical minerals and rare earths, including derivatives such as permanent magnets, batteries, catalysts and optical materials."

The two governments also plan to leverage support from both the government and the self-operated sector, including providing capital and operational expenditures through various means.

The United States and Malaysia also signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the diversification and investment cooperation of critical mineral supply chains during the Asia-Pacific Summit earlier. Malaysia has committed not to ban or restrict the export of critical minerals and rare earths to the United States, and will cooperate with US enterprises to develop related industries, without restricting the export of rare earth magnets to the United States.

Tensions between China and the United States have escalated again after China announced on the 9th of this month that it would impose comprehensive restrictions on the export of rare earths. Trump then threatened to impose a 100% tariff on Chinese goods and impose export controls on all key software.