On June 17, the final day of the summit, G7 leaders issued a joint statement committing to strengthen collaboration for stabilizing critical mineral supply chains, which are essential for defense, advanced technology, and renewable energy industries.
Western nations have been accelerating efforts to secure alternative supply chains to reduce reliance on China. Last year, China’s export restrictions on permanent magnets disrupted the global market, revealing that key industries were overly dependent on a single source.
While the G7 leaders did not directly mention China in their statement, they set a goal to reduce reliance on single sources outside the G7 and partner countries for rare earths and permanent magnets to below 60% by 2030, with an interim target of 50% as soon as possible.
The leaders stated, "We will work to establish a harmonious and interoperable mechanism," initially focusing on lithium and nickel as pilot critical minerals. They emphasized that this would be pursued without undermining competitiveness or imposing excessive costs.
The mechanism is expected to expand annually by adding five new minerals, starting with rare earths.
Challenges Ahead for Achieving Goals
However, experts caution that achieving these goals may be difficult. Reuters reported that China controls 90% of global production in processed rare earths and magnets, making the G7's target of reducing reliance to 60% a challenging endeavor.
Neha Mukherjee, a research manager at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, noted that the G7 statement signals important intent but added, "The speed of supply chain diversification will depend on whether policy support translates into investments in the midstream and downstream sectors of the value chain."
The G7 also agreed to establish a platform for policy coordination, data sharing, and crisis response. This platform will work with the IEA to monitor the critical mineral market and provide early warnings of supply chain risks. The G7 stated that this platform will utilize IEA analysis and early alerts on market distortions.
G7 nations and allies face the challenge of building a complete supply chain from mining to processing to final product production, which will require substantial investment. The leaders emphasized the need for development finance institutions and export credit agencies to support critical mineral projects and infrastructure alongside the private sector.
According to Reuters, countries have announced 195 critical mineral investment projects worth €64 billion (approximately $112 billion) since early 2026.
The G7 is also considering various policy measures, including price gap subsidies, joint procurement, quotas, and price floors. However, the lack of clear consensus on some measures, such as price floors, reflects a cautious approach from some G7 allies regarding the previous administration's price intervention proposals.
Additionally, the G7 plans to expand stockpiling and recycling of critical minerals. They aim to strengthen stockpiling in both the industrial and public sectors and build capacity to meet a significant portion of annual consumption through recycled resources by 2030.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaiichi, who attended the meeting, confirmed that the proposal for joint stockpiling of critical minerals was included in the outcome document. According to NHK, Takaiichi stated at a press conference after the summit, "What is important is to reduce excessive dependence on specific countries for critical minerals like rare earths and to expand alternative sources of procurement with G7 and like-minded countries."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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