U.S. officials just turned a talking point into a plan. At the State Department’s “Critical Minerals Ministerial” in Washington on February 4, Secretary of State Marco Rubio (yes, he’s running State) rolled out FORGE - the Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement - and Vice President JD Vance pitched a preferential trade zone with enforceable price floors. Fifty‑four countries plus the EU showed up, not a small guest list. (miragenews.com)
Vance said the bloc would set “reference prices for critical minerals at each stage of production,” with “adjustable tariffs” to keep prices from being undercut - translation: coordinated floors, backed by border tools. That’s the mechanism investors have been asking for. (investingnews.com)
Washington signed 11 new bilateral critical‑minerals frameworks (on top of 10 similar pacts over the last five months) and says it has concluded negotiations with 17 more. Countries named so far include Argentina, the Cook Islands, Ecuador, Guinea, Morocco, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, the UAE and Uzbekistan. The U.S. is also coordinating with Japan, Mexico and the EU on policy MOUs. Momentum, not memos for memos’ sake. (miragenews.com)
Project Vault - a $12B national reserve to steady supplies of rare earths, lithium, copper and friends - is funded by a $10B loan from the U.S. Export‑Import Bank (the federal export credit agency) plus $2B in private capital. It’s a public‑private stockpile with OEMs in the mix. (exim.gov)
China dominates the midstream - roughly 90% of processing for many minerals - and has used export curbs and subsidies as leverage. The U.S. is trying to swap vulnerability for rules, financing and collective buying power. Expect blowback; price floors plus tariffs invite friction, and Beijing has already bristled at “small‑circle” trade rules. (wsj.com)
Names, money, mechanics - this isn’t vibes. If the floors stick and FORGE mobilizes real projects, non‑China mines and refineries get bankable, and manufacturers get predictable input costs. Big if, but finally a plan with teeth. (investingnews.com)
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