Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese came to the White House Monday offering cheaper access to the continent’s rare earth minerals and an invitation to visit to play golf. President Donald Trump gifted his fellow world leader a pledge to not only honor a Biden-era agreement on nuclear-powered submarines, but speed up production in an effort to boost allied naval power in the Pacific.
China’s influence loomed over both deals, as well as Albanese’s entire visit. Over the course of the meeting in the Cabinet Room, the longstanding alliance between Australia and the U.S. seemed bolstered as both countries made moves to counter Beijing’s creeping influence over the Pacific and China’s dominance of the raw materials used in new technologies.
As reporters watched, Trump and Albanese signed the minerals agreement intended to secure supply of critical minerals for the U.S. market. The brief framework said the two countries will work to accelerate permits for mining and processing and work to pump $1 billion in financing for projects in both countries, according to a description of the framework provided by the Australian Prime Minister’s office.
Albanese said the agreement, which is intended to increase investment into the mining and refinement of minerals used in computer chips, servers and batteries, will bring the relationship between the two countries “to that next level.” Trump said his team has been working “for quite a while” on a minerals agreement. “In about a year from now, we’ll have so much critical minerals and rare earths that you won’t know what to do with them. They’ll be worth about two dollars,” Trump joked.
The White House released its own description of the minerals agreement which listed higher figures. The U.S. version of the framework says the two countries intend to invest $3 billion together in critical mineral project over the next six months. The U.S. overseas financing arm, the Export-Import Bank, intends to make available $2.2 billion in financing to advance “critical minerals and supply chain security.” The Pentagon intends to invest in the building of a gallium refinery in Western Australia, the White House said. Gallium is a key mineral for building advanced missile defense and satellite systems.
The minerals agreement signed by Trump and Albanese has little binding language in it, and may not lead to significant change in the global market. The White House’s fact sheet said the two countries “intend to” make the investments. The version of the framework released by Australia said the two leaders signed an “action plan” that “does not constitute or create any legally binding or enforceable obligations.” Even if both countries follow through with the investment promises, it would take years for minerals to make it to market. The U.S. and Australia both have mineral deposits but have not built out the scale of refineries that would be needed to offset the production in China. Also, opening and expanding mining operations can harm ecosystems and water supplies, creating major hurdles to such operations in both countries.
Along with the minerals agreement, Albanese was determined to secure the continuation of the sprawling submarine deal negotiated during President Joe Biden’s term between Australia, the U.K. and the U.S. It hasn’t always clear to Australia’s leader that Trump would hold up the U.S. end of the AUKUS agreement. But Trump said he planned to accelerate plans for Australia to buy three Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarines to be used in the Pacific in the next decade. Asked if he would expedite the delivery of the subs, Trump said, “We are doing that, yeah. We have them moving very very quickly.”
The U.S. Navy had been reviewing the AUKUS agreement and intended to “improve it” and bring some “clarity” to parts of it, said the Secretary of the Navy John Phelan. The agreement, Phelan said, was important for the U.S. “ability to project power in the Indo-Pacific.”
The moves between the U.S. and Australia announced on Monday come as Trump is preparing to meet with China’s President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea next month. Trump said that he would raise tariffs on goods from China up to a level of 157% if Beijing doesn’t agree to economic concessions with the U.S. He said the U.S. has “tremendous power” in the “power of the tariff.” A large number of American products are made with parts made in China and recent increases in tariffs have increased costs for American manufacturers in recent months. “If they don’t want to do business with us, China is in big trouble,” Trump said. “I don’t want them to be in trouble. I want them to thrive.”
Trump warmly welcomed Albanese and said it was “a great honor to have you as my friend.” But he bristled when a reporter told him that Australia’s current Ambassador to the U.S., former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, had criticized Trump in the past. Rudd was sitting across the table from Trump. “It was prior to this position Mr President,” Rudd said, likely referring to messages he wrote on Twitter in 2020 calling Trump “destructive” and saying he “drags America and democracy through the mud.” Trump was not ready to reconcile. “I don’t like you either. And I probably never will,” Trump said.
