US, Italy sign deal to strengthen critical minerals cooperation

Washington: The United States and Italy signed an agreement to strengthen cooperation on critical minerals, including recycling and recovery acquisitions.

US, Italy launch critical minerals groupS Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani signed the memorandum of understanding in New York on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly.

The agreement establishes a joint working group tasked with advancing practical cooperation on the recycling and recovery of critical minerals.

Rubio and Tajani also discussed broader opportunities to strengthen economic cooperation between the two countries.

Their talks included efforts to diversify supply chains and protect industries considered strategically important from acquisitions linked to adversarial countries or entities, the State Department said.

The emphasis on recycling suggests that Washington and Rome want to expand mineral supplies not only through mining but also through the recovery of valuable materials from used products, industrial waste and other existing sources.

Such efforts can reduce reliance on newly mined material while helping countries retain strategic resources within their own manufacturing systems.

The cooperation could cover minerals used in batteries, semiconductors, defence systems, power infrastructure and other advanced technologies. The State Department, however, did not provide a detailed list of sectors included under the memorandum.

The joint working group is expected to provide a channel through which officials and technical experts can identify areas for cooperation. Its mandate, as described by the State Department, is centred on practical work rather than a broad political dialogue.

The focus on recovery could include efforts to improve the collection, separation and reuse of minerals contained in manufactured products after they reach the end of their useful life.

Recycling alone cannot replace primary mineral production, but it can provide an additional domestic or regional source and reduce exposure to concentrated overseas processing networks.

A memorandum of understanding generally records areas in which governments intend to cooperate. The effectiveness of the US-Italy arrangement will depend on the projects, policies and investments developed through the new working group.

Critical minerals are materials regarded as essential to economic or national security and vulnerable to supply disruption. Demand has increased with the expansion of electric vehicles, renewable-energy systems, digital infrastructure, advanced electronics and defence technologies.

The US-Italy agreement will also be watched in India, which is expanding its own critical-mineral partnerships and domestic processing ambitions.

IANS