G7 leaders tackle reliance on China for critical minerals

Discussion on critical minerals comes on final day of summit

Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, US President Donald Trump, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, European Council President Antonio Costa, French President Emmanuel Macron, Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, attend a working lunch during the G7 summit, in Evian-les-Bains, France, June 16, 2026. REUTERS

G7 host France is pushing partners to agree a statement on critical minerals on Wednesday that could include measures to help the West reduce its reliance on China and shield investors from counter-measures and dumping, diplomats said.

The leaders will discuss securing mineral supply chains, a central theme of France's G7 presidency, alongside a broader effort to remedy global economic imbalances on the final day of the Jun 15-17 summit in Evian-les-Bains.

China spooked the global economy last year when some industries nearly ground to a halt after Beijing imposed export curbs on permanent magnets made of rare earths -- an episode which highlighted how reliant Western supply chains in the energy, defence and technology sectors are on these goods.

"We are negotiating texts that are significant on critical minerals and, as a consequence, on economic sovereignty," a French presidency official said ahead of the summit.

Measures under discussion in recent months have included price supports, market standards, subsidies, and guaranteed purchases, as well as means to scale up private investment in critical mineral supply chains outside China. However, any measures announced at the G7 are likely to be first steps.

OVER-RELIANCE ON CHINA

The 2025 restrictions were the latest in Beijing's gradual tightening of its niche material and battery metal exports. It has also curbed American companies' access to tungsten and antimony, among others.

Western powers are racing to secure offtake from mines and build up processing and recycling capacity, but it will take years to dent China's dominant position, which was decades in the making.

The United States proposed in early 2026 a trading bloc for critical minerals. However, countries are at odds over how this bloc could operate, especially in the context of the White House's "America First" agenda.

ECONOMIC IMBALANCES

G7 leaders will also discuss how to rebalance global trade and address "predatory competition", mainly by China. France summarises the imbalances as: China produces too much, the US consumes too much and the Europeans invest too little.

There's growing alarm in Europe at China's record trade surplus and its move up the value chain, in what analysts describe as a "second China shock" following its dominance of low-value industries in the 2000s.

France's President Emmanuel Macron sought to engage China ahead of the summit in a last-ditch effort at cooperation. Beijing rejects EU claims of unfair subsidies and has repeatedly vowed "strong" countermeasures to the EU's proposed "Buy European" and revised tech sovereignty rules.

EU leaders will separately debate tougher and a more systematic use of trade defence measures against China's surging imports at a summit in Brussels on Thursday.

The EU last year recorded its largest ever trade deficit with China of over €360 billion.

"This is, of course, not sustainable. As you know, in Europe, our strategy is very clear: de-risk not decouple," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters at the start of the summit.

G7 leaders will also discuss AI over lunch on Wednesday including the liability of bots and agents, and how AI presents what is true and false. OpenAI founder Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei are expected to attend the lunch.